


the parts that make us whole

by Tiara_of_Sapphires



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 07:21:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 48,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20560424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiara_of_Sapphires/pseuds/Tiara_of_Sapphires
Summary: Rey Kenobi searches for a cure for her body and salvation for her town. Among the tall trees and dark magic, she finds her reflection in a man similarly corrupted.For Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Amid Secrets and Monsters. Prompt is Cursed Forests :D





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first time in the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology! I am so glad that I was able to participate and finish this project! I am so excited to share this with the world!
> 
> Please enjoy!

Fog and grit covered Rey’s eyes as she shuffled around the kitchen, trying to not wake up her grandfather, who slept like a log even on bad days.

She envied him for that sometimes. It was hard to sleep, especially in recent days. She didn’t know if it was because she had too much super-caffeinated tea the night before or the fumes from her potions had burrowed into her head, but her dreams were full of shadows and screaming.

It kept her from finding any sense of calm, soreness settling into her temples and behind her eyes.

Her grandfather snored away in his room while she warmed up some water.

A soothing blend might be able to get her to sleep again, if for a few more precious hours before she was made to do something productive. She had worked double-time the night before, brewing blends that had increased efficacy if brewed at night.

Her grandfather would forgive her if she slept in a few extra hours.

A fist slamming against the wooden door right as she lifted the tea kettle made her jump. She hissed as the sloshing liquid spilled over her fingers. 

“Hell,” she muttered, wiping her hands on a nearby cloth before striding to the front door. So much for a comforting cup of tea.

She opened the door to Rose’s terrified face. Rey opened her mouth, concern for her friend overtaking any feelings of annoyance, a question on her lips.

Rose already had the answer. “The fields! Hurry!”

Rey grabbed her staff before bolting out the door after Rose.

It was no wonder she was stricken with a headache early that morning. There was an energy so sharp and palpable in the air that she would’ve had to be in a dead coma to not feel it.

Doors were open along the street; people poked out their heads to see what the commotion was. The dogs howled and distantly the lowing of cows and shrieking of horses drifted through the air.

Rey sprinted down the street, ignoring the chilly morning air that danced over her skin. Adrenaline quickly took over, hissing through her.

The town of Niima had limited distinction outside of the fact that the soil was uncommonly fertile. Farms had bumper crops every year. Vegetables and flowers in the merchants’ yards flourished.

Rose's family found their fortune in that magic. The parcel of land that bordered the yawning expanse of forest had sat unused for years until finally the landlord, a man named Hux, finally decided to sell it. Nobody would buy it, no matter how cheap, though the forest had been silent and unmoving for years.

It took the Ticos, down on their luck, to move in and buy the land. They had been a laughingstock in the town, everyone so sure that they would only be met by ruin, until the crops grew. It didn’t dispel the suspicion and fear of the forest, but the Ticos found their place.

“See?” Rose yelled, pointing forward.

Rey’s chest clenched, hand gripping her staff so hard it felt like it was going to leave bruises.

She knew the fields like the back of her hand, having helped the Ticos with their harvest every year since the family had moved in. Overnight, 50 yards of empty space and the boundary fence between the trees and the edge of the crops had been swallowed in the night.

Where the tree line ended, the desolation continued. Tall green rows of corn gave way to tall stalks color purple, black, and bleached white. The sickly sweet and pungently sour smell of rot filled her nose. She knew of blights that struck corn fields with swift, silent destruction, but this was something entirely different.

“What is this?” Rey wondered aloud.

Rose turned to her, eyes filled with tears. “I don't know. I went to check the fields and they were like this. My family’s crops…”

Rey patted Rose’s shoulder, pulling her close into a hug. She didn't know what to say that would make it better.

“I’ll find out what did this.”

Rey started forward into the fields before reeling back into the flattened dirt along the edge of the crops.

She leaned down, dropping to one knee. An unnatural chill soaked through the thin fabric and into her skin.

Bleached white bones were strewn over the ground. Mice, rats, and a fox had been consumed, leaving nothing more than skeletons. There was not the smell of flesh and blood, but only the musty scent of dead corn.

“The birds,” Rose whispered.

Rey’s eyes traced a path over the ground to find crows and swallows lying in the withered corn, bodies whole, as if they were sleeping.

She turned to the tree line. No forest could grow that quickly. The flat space between the old edge and the irrigation ditches had no saplings or seeds to foster growth.

Since the town’s founding, everyone knew to stay out of the forest and everyone knew about the cursed magic that flowed through it. Nobody said anything about it being able to grow that quickly.

The shadows were thick, though the sun shone bright in the sky. Shivers crawled up her spine, a primal sense of fear, but she was drawn towards it. The rustling sound of the wind through the leaves sang through her, a call that she wanted to answer.

“Get back!”

The two women jerked at the booming voice.

Obi-Wan strode forward, staff in one hand and torch in the other. A worn tome sat in the bag that hung against his hip. The air around him seemed to shimmer with power.

“We need to burn the crops,” he said. “Go back into town. Rey, perform a cleansing ritual on the Ticos’ barn.”

Rey hesitated, stepping forward towards him. She couldn't just leave him to do such a large job alone. “Grandpa…?”

“Now!” came the sharp reply.

Rey blinked at the sharp tone before following Rose away from the trees and the dead corn. She glanced back at Obi-Wan’s hunched form. It was as if he had aged ten years instantly.

The smell of rot gave way to smoke, black and thick as the wind carried it to the north, away from the town.

Rose still sniffled, refusing to look back as her family’s livelihood went up in smoke. She didn't protest. Obi-Wan had obviously already spoken to her parents to get their blessing.

The Ticos wouldn’t be totally ruined. They still had an orchard far from the trees that bloomed with peaches and cherries. Rey just had to make sure that the curse didn't encroach and poison the surviving part of the homestead.

She twisted her staff in her hand, turning it clockwise, once, twice.

The incantation was simple, something passed down over the centuries for those who coexisted with magic that wasn’t necessarily benevolent.

White fire and clear stone carved an opaque wall between the uninfected part of the homestead and the irrigation ditches that ringed around the corn. The weight of the spell throbbed behind her eyes and pressed on her shoulders.

To be safe, Rey marched across the boundary of the Ticos’ farm, Rose close behind, applying the same protections. Rose guided her back to the house when Rey became dizzy with fatigue.

“Thank you, Rey,” Rose murmured.

Rey nodded, gratefully.

Rose’s mother gave her a basket full of pork buns and jam in payment. Rey tried to refuse but it was clear she was going to walk all the way to Rey’s home to deliver the food if Rey didn’t take it.

A chill clung to her body, despite the sun shining.

The people around her—though they might not have had the same training as her—seemed to feel the same thing. They eyed her as if she was rapid or diseased animal. Perhaps they thought she would accidentally spread the disease to the rest of the town.

Rose had tried to cheer her up, talking animatedly about the man who lived in the town over who would soon arrive to support the Ticos' farm.

His name was Finn and Rose was utterly enamored by him. They exchanged letters and sometimes he would send her pressed flowers.

It made Rey happy to see Rose happy, but she couldn’t help the pang of jealousy that clutched at her chest. No romance would have Rose forgetting about Rey, but Rey feared it all the same.

She shoved a bun into her mouth as soon as the door closed behind her, exhaustion bringing her to tears.

Hours passed. She occupied herself by rifling through Obi-Wan's texts, looking for more powerful wards she could set up once she regained her strength. She cleaned the house shrine, replacing the melted candles and wilted roses with fresh, red blooms. Incense filled the air with a light and calming scent.

She was about to sprint out the door to find her grandfather when the doorknob turned with a creak.

“Grandpa?”

Obi-Wan shuffled in, barely able to put one foot in front of the other. He was weary and his skin sallow.

“My child.”

He waved her off when she tried to guide him to the chair.

“What happened?”

He sat down heavily, the chair creaking.

“Grandpa?”

“I heard you,” he snapped.

Rey recoiled at his tone. Obi-Wan immediately looked contrite, scrubbing his face with his hands. “I knew it was just a matter of time before the forest encroached on the town’s border.”

“Why did it take so long?” Rey asked. “I mean, it’s been there for years.”

“I have been maintaining wards at the forest’s edge. Some of my best work, I would say. It appears that magic is fading, with my age. Wards won’t be enough to stop the spread.”

He sighed, “I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.”

Rey winced as she sat down across from him. She didn't like thinking about him getting old, though it was obvious and inevitable.

“The Ticos’ homestead is only the beginning,” Obi-Wan continued. “The forest will spread across the town and destroy everything. The new set of wards should bide us some time, but it won’t be enough to stop it.”

The idea of it made her feel colder than any expenditure of magic ever could. That curse would sweep through the town like a terrible plague, sapping the life out of everything still living.

A sudden determination rushed through her bones, making her heart pound. She wanted to reach for her staff and run headlong into the forest.

“I should go, then. I’m strong enough.”

Obi-Wan immediately shook his head. “My child, the amount of energy would destroy you and still it wouldn’t be enough to completely cure the forest.”

“Okay, I’ll do enough to buy our people time.”

Obi-Wan regarded her with the same wizened eye that she was so used to. She was his protege and responsibility, to make up for the deficiency in his son and daughter-in-law.

“No.”

Rey wrung her hands, disappointed that he wouldn’t even give a blessing to her idea.

“Has anyone else gone into the forest?”

He hesitated for a beat.

“One boy, over a decade ago,” he said. “He went in and never came out. I knew his family. He already had darkness in his heart, so the forest must have consumed him in turn.”

“But he had magic like me?” Rey asked.

“He did, but he was not like you.”

Rey clenched her jaw, the beginnings of an argument swelling in her chest.

Obi-Wan knew her well enough and interrupted her before she could say a word. “Rey, this town has stood for millennia, but that doesn’t mean forever. Get some rest, my child. Tomorrow, we will gather the people and begin organizing an evacuation.”

He stood, quickly ending that conversation.

Rey nodded, allowing Obi-Wan to think that the conversation was over. She couldn't accept this, no matter what he said.

She formed the skeleton of a plan. She would leave in the night, right before the sunrise. That way, she would reach the forest’s edge by the time the sun started to peek out over the horizon. The forest was filled with strong magic. She could find her way from there.

Rey quelled the fear inside herself. There was the plan and nothing else.

* * *

* * *

The rest of the day carried out quietly. There were a few tentative knocks at the door of people who wanted to know what all the fuss was about earlier.

Obi-Wan easily lied and kept them calm, knowing that soon the entire town would be uprooted. Rey only smiled, complicit in the lie. She would leave soon, hopefully to fix it.

Obi-Wan went to sleep a few hours after dusk. Rey found a few snatches of rest before the hour came.

Quietly, she collected her things, mentally ticking off items in her list as she went along. She would need some spare clothes. The ones she already had on would work for the initial trek, along with her thick cloak. Dried jerky and fruit, a tiny jar of peach preserves, her dagger. Tiny bags of herbs and vials of potions carefully wrapped in cloth went into one pocket of her knapsack.

She couldn't expect to stay for long. If she stayed for more than a week, long enough for her supplies to run dry, she would’ve been in some kind of trouble that she wouldn’t be able to come back home from. She accepted that.

A blanket, a tarp, some rope, some matches, and her canteen followed.

Her staff was last: a delicate balance of stone, wood, and metal, the glimmer of the blue gem casting a faint light in the room. She would be able to use magic without it, but it amplified her abilities. Perhaps it was a crutch, but it made her feel a bit more secure.

The bed creaked as she stood up, shouldering her pack.

No saying goodbye. Rose wouldn’t let her leave and even if she did, she would probably try to follow her.

She made it halfway through the house before the near-silent squeak of a door hinge gave her pause.

“Rey.”

She froze, wincing. While she didn't expect to be able to leave without him knowing, it was still jarring to have him appear in the doorway of his bedroom, staring at her with sorrowful acceptance.

“I’m sorry, Grandpa.”

He shook his head, stepping closer to her. Candles flared to life, filling the room with dim light.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop you when you set your mind to something.”

He looked her over, then at the bag sitting on the table.

Obi-Wan sighed heavily before pulling his ring off his finger. He cupped the heavy grey metal ring in his hand, then leaned down to breathe on it.

The warm wooden smell of magic swept through the hut, filling her chest with comfort.

Obi-Wan’s eyes were bright and sad as he reached out to set the ring in Rey’s outstretched hand. A thin strand looped through it, making a necklace. “My wife gave this to me when we first married. You know this. Now, use this when it’s time for you to go home. It will guide you.”

Rey sniffed quietly, nodding.

She had very hazy memories of Satine. She remembered she was beautiful, taking great pride in her seamstressing. Satine would make dresses and coats and suits for royalty and wealthy people across the world.

Satine died when Rey was fairly young, but she remembered sitting in Satine’s lap as she read to her. She would never get upset if Rey got into the bolts of expensive fabric with her sticky little hands.

“Thank you.”

Between the ring and the cloak around her shoulders, she knew she would be able to feel surrounded and protected by the two people who raised her when she walked through the forest.

“You will remember everything that I taught you,” Obi-Wan ordered, “Listen to the trees and the ground and the wind. There is potent magic there. Everything in that forest has been touched by it.”

Rey shrunk a little. “But…bad magic, right?”

She knew of beasts and spirits, those that would disguise themselves as friendly but recoil at the touch of metal. There were spirits that would take advantage, offer generosity and claim an unfulfillable life-debt, use the revelation of a human’s true name to enslave them.

Obi-Wan’s expression flickered to something like nostalgia before training on her with determination. “Yes, but you may find some good there as well. There is no dark without light, not even in a place like that.”

Rey couldn’t be sure if he was just saying that to keep her from being consumed by terror the moment she stepped into the trees, but she tried to take those words to heart.

Obi-Wan kept things from her—she knew that—but he wouldn’t lie to her if it meant she could lose her life. He was good to her and Rey could never truly repay him for it. He wouldn’t ask for payment anyway; they only had each other.

She embraced him, relishing one last hug before she would step into the unknown. He was warm and solid and smelled like her childhood memories and powerful magic. It was a blessing as much as his words.

“Thank you, for everything.”

He squeezed her with a strength that belied his age.

“I love you, my child. I send you off with every blessing I can offer you.”

Wiping tears from her face, she turned towards the door. A thought that had been rattling around in her head for hours finally came to the surface. She couldn’t leave until she knew the answer.

“Grandpa, what was the boy’s name? The one who went into the forest and disappeared?”

There was a brief pause and Rey almost thought he wouldn’t answer her. “Ben. Ben Solo.”

She nodded, ducking back into her room to grab some funeral incense. If she found his body, she could give him the last rites he had been denied for years.

Obi-Wan waited by the door as she stepped into the chill night air.

She glanced back, hoping for one last glimpse of the life she once lived and he said, “Now, go. Before I change my mind.”


	2. Chapter 2

The trek to the forest took an age and only moments.

The Ticos’ home was dark, save for dim light leaking from one of the windows on the top floor. It brought a smile to Rey’s face, seeing signs of life.

She had to work fast to keep the house from being consumed by the forest. It was unrealistic, but she was going to dive headlong into a cursed forest. Nothing about it was very realistic.

All of the tall rows of corn had been leveled by fire and her wards flared with a muted light as she approached, recognizing her. Her staff warmed in her hand in an echo; she could feel the wards as much as she could see them

They were keyed into her magic, so they let her through, though there was a small amount of resistance in a confusion why their summoner wouldn’t stay behind the safety of the magic she created.

Smoke and death still clung to the air. Each footfall was accompanied by loud crunching noises. She didn’t know if she was treading upon ashes or bones. She couldn’t see the ground very well in the dim light, so she pretended that it was all dead plants.

Rey stopped where the trees met the ashes.

The night sky still hung over the forest, but she knew the sun and the pale morning sky was just behind her.

One last look, she told herself. Just enough to tide her over until she returned. She turned back, seeing the silhouettes of the town just barely dusted by sunlight.

Her absence would be noticed. She selfishly hoped that she would be missed.

Turning back to the trees, she took in another shaky breath. The smell of rot was still there, but she could also smell fresh leaves.

Holding her staff out in front of her, she found a space between two of the trees and eased her way in.

Obi-Wan’s wards were powerful. The heat flared to the point of almost causing pain before retreating. They may have recognized the familial connection. Though there was no pain, the wards seemed to tug at her clothes as she walked forward. They wouldn’t actually stop her from moving forward, but they wanted to deter her. Obi-Wan wanted to keep everyone away from the forest. If anyone would and should be able to go inside, it would be her.

Beyond the wards that marked the line between forest and field, the trees thinned. It wasn’t by much. The trees were still bunched and made her feel very small. There were no paths, only openings for her to walk through.

Rey stood still as the weight of an unnatural silence and a hundred-thousand eyes rested on her. Then, slowly, twittering and buzzing, began.

She was still being watched, but she wasn’t immediately consumed or driven back into the clearing. She had been judged and deemed worthy to live, for now. If anyone else in town had wandered in, unknowing, she could imagine the ground being soaked with blood and gore.

After picking up a stick and driving it into the ground behind her as a crude marker, Rey started forward.

The magic was ever-present, but it seemed to get more powerful with each step she took.

Obi-Wan had been right. While Rey felt watched like a prey animal, there was a strange purity in the magic that seeped through the ground. It kept her on a razor’s edge between both fear and belonging.

She poked at the ground with the staff as she walked, letting the beetles scatter before she could crush them underfoot. She couldn't make enemies needlessly in a place where she wasn’t welcome.

The first creatures she saw that were bigger than a beetle were a flock of birds pecking at the ground. They were fat, white and brown things, cooing like doves, but unlike anything she had ever seen before. She watched them, struck by how innocuous they were.

She didn’t know how they would possibly be able to exist in the forest being so fat and sluggish-looking, easy pickings for predators. Then again, she really didn't know what was inside this forest. Maybe these birds were at the top of the food chain.

As she approached them, she saw that three of them were pecking not at beetles, but at a corpse of one of their dead kin, reduced to scraps of flesh and bone. Not as cute as she originally thought.

Deciding to call them ‘porgs’, because that seemed like an apt name for something fat and oddly grotesque, she continued forward.

Squawking and honking sounded behind her, before the forest quieted down to a gentle hum.

Another hour of walking and she had set another dozen sticks into the ground on her way. It was less of an actual way of finding her way home and more of making sure she didn’t get turned around and end up walking in a circle.

For all she knew, this forest could be endless and she couldn’t make a circle even if she tried.

As the sun rose to its zenith, the forest got louder with the whine of bugs. It also became a lot muggier than she had anticipated. Sweat made her shirt stick to her back.

The first pond she saw was ringed with unnaturally bright algae. She passed it, though she wanted to dive into the water to cool down.

She found shade under a tree near the pond's edge.

Knowing to conserve what supplies she had, she took a few small sips of water and a piece of jerky.

No birds swam in the pond, though dragonflies swarmed above the water's surface. They were the only ones that seemed to find the water appetizing.

Water and food weren’t the only things she need to be careful about using; energy was one too. Wandering through the hot and humid forest wasn’t very efficient use of what energy she had.

Energy and time were the two things that were at a premium. Her town needed her, but she needed time.

By now, word would have gotten out that she had gone into the forest. Rose would be worried, all but begging Obi-Wan to give her a way to find Rey. Obi-Wan wouldn’t let Rose follow, but tell her to light their household shrine to send Rey strength on her journey.

Whether people started evacuating today or waited for her to return was a mystery. She could only hope that when she returned, she would have something to return to.

Waiting until the forest cooled was agonizing. Aside from the bugs, nothing appeared out of the clearing to drink.

Ripples banded across the water, bigger than what a bug could make. Rey stood up, inching closer to the pond. The dragonflies scattered, whipping around her ears with loud buzzing noises.

She lifted up her staff, running the bottom over the water's surface. That green film clung to the wood.

The water rippled again and again in tiny rings.

Rey backed away, something inside her telling her that she shouldn’t get so close to the water's edge. The soft sand made her feet sink into the ground, making it difficult to move.

The light shifted and the dull blue-green turned bright red. The ripples grew in size, bubbling up as a pale shape emerged from the depths, floating still and quiet.

Rey stepped forward as the shape drifted a little closer.

It was her.

The body was drained of color, eyes wide and milky.

Rey staggered back, backing away, away until she was back in the trees. She wanted to vomit, but held it in.

This was wrong. This was a strange sort of magic. It was a deterrent, created specifically for her. It worked; she wanted to trace her steps back into town and leave and never come back.

Rey swallowed the fear and continued forward. This time, she kept glancing back, watching to make sure the specter in the water didn’t follow her. She pulled her cloak closer around her, wishing she could hide in the warm cloth like she did as a child.

The sun was sinking lower and lower in the sky, casting greater shadows over the ground. Soon, she would need to find shelter, before it became too dark to see without expending magic to summon fire.

When the sky started to turn a pink-orange, she stopped at the nearest clearing.

The song that filled the forest changed tune, from chirping to buzzing.

She picked a sturdy tree with a divot carved into the trunk as the basis for her shelter. Two paces away from it, she took her staff and drew a circle around the tree as best she could with her staff. It was a complicated spell with a simple purpose: if anything larger than a field mouse passed through the wards, it would warn her.

She propped up the tarp and set ablaze a pile of twigs and leaves to provide a little warmth. Eating her meager dinner, she knew she would need to forage for food eventually.

The spells to detect poison were complicated, but she was confident enough in her abilities that she would be able to find berries and mushrooms that were safe to eat and water that was safe to drink. If not, well, she would die of poison faster than she would of starvation.

The fire crackled and popped gently.

She missed her dining room table and the fireplace and the hot meals. The sparse amount of food she allowed herself and the cold seeping into her clothes from where she sat only intensified the feelings.

The chill came over her like the lid of a coffin. She curled the blanket closer around her body.

“Dammit,” she hissed.

She definitely missed living under a proper roof. The first night of camp was said to be the worst. She could only hope it would be the same for her case.

She crawled under the tarp, taking refuge from the soft, chilly breeze that swept through the clearing. There was only so far she could burrow into her blanket and cloak, but she made due with what she could. The hot mugginess that she felt before was a distant memory.

This was an in insidious chill, physically and emotionally. Perhaps magic around her was stronger at night, or maybe it was her fear warping her perception.

She wasn’t sure if she would live through the night. The wards would warn her of intrusion, but if the intruder was fast and powerful, she wouldn’t be able to get to her staff before she was destroyed.

Rey shut her eyes. So be it. She would need to sleep eventually and she couldn’t avoid the need forever.

The night wore on and she clung to her staff for protection. Her magic channeled into the wood, warming slightly.

It washed over her like another blanket and she slipped into sleep.

* * *

* * *

Sunlight shone on her face, obscuring all except what stood before her.

She had an axe in her hands, standing in front of a huge, ancient-looking tree. Something told her that this tree was important. She didn’t know why, but it was.

She wound up, the wood from the axe biting into her palms, and swung. The metal split the bark and blood dripped from the freshly carved wound.

Somebody was hissing behind her, breathing in her ear, telling her to keep going.

Her dream-self obeyed, though Rey tried to fight the impulse. Her body kept moving, striking the tree again and again, more blood spraying with each swing.

The axe bit through the tree's core and there was a horrible snap as the wood split. A scream of pain, a death knell, rang through the air like a firework, drowning out the crackling as the wood cracked and split.

Bright light spilled from the trunk, striking her in the chest and flinging her backward. This was poison, this was anger, this was pure power. It was grief and a lust for vengeance.

The whispering got closer and closer until it was inside her ear, inside her head.

A pale hand reached across her face and she was _burning_.

Rey jerked upwards, knocking into the stick propping her tarp up and sending her shelter crumpling on top of her.

Her heart was in her throat and her pulse echoed in her skull. This was a mistake. Coming here was a mistake.

Her joints ached, both the hard ground and the night’s chill stiffening her body. A few stars still hung in the sky, slowly being extinguished by the dawn.

She choked down a meager breakfast before packing her blanket and tarp again.

The heart-wrenching wail of pain that she heard from her dream still followed her. Though it was only her dream-self that caused that pain, she couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for it.

The trees had power here; maybe that was the dream warning her. If she were to cut down one of the trees, she would be hurting something with the capacity to feel just as well as she could.

She shook her head, trying to chase the unease away from her mind. There had to be a source to the magic that flowed through the forest and that caused the taint that touched every inch of the ground.

Things like this didn't just happen. There had to be a root to it, something capable of being destroyed or cured.

She needed to put some more effort in finding the source. This wasn’t something she could just find through her intuition.

Using magic would make her more of a target to whatever dark magic that surrounded her, but she didn’t have many options. If she made herself a beacon, maybe something with an answer to her problem would find her.

She found as straight a stick as she could and stuck it in the ground where the sun shone.

The only other time she had ever used this incantation was when she got hopelessly lost in another forest while on an ingredient-gathering expedition with Obi-Wan. It had pointed right to him, sensing his magic.

She knelt down and tapped the gem on her staff to the tip of the stick. The gem, a conduit of magic, glowed in answer. Flames crawled down the length of the stick and spread in a small circle around it. The circle grew to a foot in diameter before snuffing out.

One half, the west-facing side, was darker than the other. That ruled out one direction. She needed to go west, relative to where she was.

Rey groaned quietly.

That didn’t narrow things much at all.

Advanced tracking incantations would be useless; she didn’t know what she was looking for to hone in on.

Obi-Wan really should have grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and locked her in her room to keep her from leaving. Rey would have hated him for doing it, but at least she wouldn’t have been killing herself by wandering into a forest cursed by magic. He had never been overly-protective of her, but he still treated her like a protégé as much as a granddaughter.

She shouldered her backpack before starting west, knowing she needed to cover a lot of ground early before the air got thick and hot.

Obi-Wan loved to take her to the mountains. He insisted that magic was more powerful the closer one was to the summit.

Her foot slammed against a tree root and almost sent her flying forward.

Everywhere was touched by magic. She just happened to be in a place where the magic had it out for her.

A sharp crack of a branch snapping had her whipping around, heart in her throat.

The shadows didn’t move and the cadence of the forest’s song didn’t change. She glanced up, seeing nothing but branches and strips of blue sky. If there was a hulking animal or a twisted manifestation of the forest coming for her, it hid itself well.

Rey squeezed herself between two trees, continuing her meandering path that waded in the strong field of magic but didn’t have an end in sight.

“I guess this is my life now,” she mumbled.

Her lifeline remained around her neck, a tether that she could pull on if fear and uncertainty sent her fleeing back home. Remembering her town and the cost if she failed, she kept her hands away from the ring.


	3. Chapter 3

Her dreams were disjointed, as her childhood memories often were.

This time, her parents handed her to Obi-Wan and walked out of her life, over and over. She had been too young at the time to understand that, this time, when they dropped her off, it would be forever.

Later, she would realize the extended stays with Obi-Wan were them getting her ready for being orphaned. They were kind enough to give her that.

Her child body had one fist clutching Obi-Wan’s coat, the other reaching out towards their retreating backs. She remembered their backs more than she remembered their faces.

If she passed them on the street, she wouldn’t know them.

Sorrow gave way to hunger when she awoke, that feeling not abating when she ate a precious sliver of jerky and some dried fruit. The forest, so far, was barren of fruit trees or bushes. She wished she had gotten lost in the Ticos’ orchard, instead of this place.

She had no chance to forage or poison herself, making it a bane and a boon. She didn’t know hunger. In dreams, she would imagine a gnawing, endless hunger, no food in sight. That time would come, she knew, in her journey. There would come a time where her food would run out, especially if there wasn’t anything to find.

Then, there was water. She could wait for a stream or rainfall, but her canteen would dry out. She could survive with no food for a time, but even less with no water.

Another navigation charm told her to continue west. It was nice to travel with the sun on her back in the morning. She could take some amount of pleasure from that, at least.

She could contemplate her place on this earth, as small as it was, though she did that enough while she did menial tasks for Obi-Wan's shop. Sometimes, she would get into so deep a thought that her hands would stop their movements as she stared into the distance.

Now, her mind couldn’t wander for too long. She watched the ground a pace in front of her, watching to make sure she didn’t step on something dangerous or unsavory. She kept her eyes to the shadows above and around her.

A series of sharp snaps froze her in place.

Even if she was paying attention, she could miss things. The feedback and energy around her made everything muddied.

Rey was still, then there was another snap of a dry twig. Whatever it was, its interest was on her, or nearby and about to notice her.

She buttoned up her cloak and pulled the hood over her head. Rey yelled, holding out her arms, making herself look bigger. The shadows behind the tree were very still, the only sound her voice’s echo.

She yelled again, stomping her feet against the ground. Her staff warmed under her hand, her magic heating the wood.

Nothing came charging out of the shadows, nothing charged with magic or otherwise.

Rey brandished her staff as she stepped through the trees. The forest cleared slightly as the ground dipped and raised, curling like an ocean’s wave. A tree sat atop that wave, its roots snarled through the raised dirt.

She stepped forward, giving a wide berth to the opening of the cave.

She stuck her staff out, the white gem lit up, casting a glow through the deceptively large space. There were gnarled tree roots and dirt, but nothing moved. It was empty.

Rey knelt down and took up a handful of tree litter, sniffing it. The brown leaves were cold but an animal-like musk clung to them, as if something had slept on them a few hours earlier. She could hope that it was a small creature, like those porgs.

She opened her hand, letting the leaves fall back to the ground.

Rey wiped her face and winced as something on her hand smeared on her forehead.

One glance at her palm and she had to bite back a scream of horror.

Blood and maggots covered her hand, warm and viscerally wet.

Rey’s vision blurred in pure panic. She shook her hand in the air, wiping it against the bark of the nearest tree. Blood ran down her arm in red streaks. She was wading in gore. Her feet sunk into the soft, writhing mess that covered the ground.

Her heart clenched in her chest, but when the smell of rotten flesh hit her, her stomach roiled and the world tipped.

She staggered, stumbling away, autopilot keeping her from running into a tree and knocking herself unconscious.

Rey ran and ran until a stitch in her side made her stop.

Her hand was clean, though scoured by the rough bark. Her boots were clean. Only the smell of plants filled her nose. She had imagined it. The hallucination was so powerful she was sure it was real.

Gasping for air, she looked around. Disorientation slammed over her, bringing a different sort of panic. She couldn't remember from which direction she had come and where she was heading. Worse, she couldn't see the treetops anymore. It shouldn’t have been possible. Looking from the forest’s edge, the trees were never so tall. Dappled light still shone on the ground, but she couldn't see the sun.

Shrubs had given way to ferns and the trees were stained like copper. Their trunks were wider than her arm span.

She had stumbled to another part of the world, though never leaving the forest.

Even the air felt different. It was cool and crisp, lacking all the warmth and the tackiness. A thin layer of fog clung to the treetops.

Rey glanced up at the trees, leaning against one of the tall trunks.

Foolish. She had let herself get turned around. The magic felt stronger, but there was no direction to the source, no gradient or current for her to follow. She got herself lost. She had been driven and turned around, lost all sense of direction.

Rey’s breath hissed through her teeth. She was terribly small. Even her magic felt painfully insignificant.

She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Her face twisted as tears of frustration trickled down her cheeks and she leaned heavily on her staff. It was as if her legs had been taken out from underneath her, her confidence sucked out of her.

Rey closed her eyes and brought the gem on her staff to her forehead. She had to be brave. She could run, but she didn't want to.

Instead, she hummed to herself, searching for a tune that she knew inside of her bones.

She sang of an unending field of wheat and rushing winds and clear streams. It was a song of sunlight, unimpeded by clouds and treetops. It was the things she wanted, the things she wished she had.

The hymn kept the fear and potential madness away. There was nowhere to go but forward. She was afraid, but she wasn’t deterred quite yet.

Even then, something was coming. The shadows seemed to move and she could sense the presence of magic like a hand on her shoulder. Her steps slowed, the sound of twigs snapping and leaves crunching underfoot quieting, leaving only her soft singing.

The bugs stopped buzzing and the birds stopped chirping. There was only her song and her footsteps.

Fear crawled up her spine again. The air buzzed with alarm and her hand clenched hard around her staff. The song stopped in her throat.

“What a pity.” The voice was quiet, like a whisper in her ear, but echoing at the same time. For a moment, Rey thought she had imagined it. “That is a lovely song.”

The voice was real, a weight pressing down on her.

Rey whipped around, panicked magic sparking around her. A tall figure shifted between the trees before stepping into full view.

Rey stepped back, recoiling in fear and disgust.

The ghostly-white skin shone unnaturally in the sun. His face was misshapen, like someone had tried to cleave him in half but couldn't quite get the job done.

“I have felt your presence in _my_ forest, child.”

He carried himself with an air of self-importance. His body was corrupted, but his clothes were pure and clean, shimmering in the broken light like woven gold. Perhaps he was the ruler of the forest, or fancied himself as the ruler.

“You’re strong, a strength I haven’t seen in many years,” he said. The wraith crept along, giving her a wide berth, as if he was afraid of her. “Who sent you?”

Rey gritted her teeth, swallowing down the fear, keeping her staff in front of her.

“I sent myself.”

What was he thinking? Was this a passing encounter or would he toy with her like a cat with its prey?

“Interesting," he said under his breath. "Nobody so brave or foolish has done that in many years.”

Rey tapped her staff against the ground, sparks flying where the wood met the ground. Warning shots, a deterrent.

“I’m just passing through,” she said, “I don't want any trouble.”

He looked like he was going to give her trouble, whether she liked it or not. There was magic in him. It seeped out of him, like poison. Everything around him was muted in comparison.

It felt like the magic that clung to the Ticos’ farm. It was decay and corrupted growth, the two opposites cleaved together in a tense equilibrium.

He was the source. The knowledge of that hit her like a punch. This man, whoever he was, was the source of the plague.

His lip curled, as if he had heard her thoughts.

“Interesting."

Rey had barely any time to dodge the wave of smoke that he sent her way. She yelped, swinging her staff as her magic hummed in answer.

No wonder he was stalking around her like a predator; he was looking for an opening.

The ground cracked as she struck the staff against it, flinging a wave of dirt and rocks into his face. The air crackled with heat.

The wraith’s magic weighed on her like tar. He was poison and decay. She doubted that anything he could possibly summon or create with his magic would be untainted by the darkness.

Rey summoned her strength, whipping her staff around, the heat from the staff and the magic inside her building and reaching out.

The wraith, though powerful, was slow. The fire licked at his side, singeing the gold to black. He howled in an ancient tongue, hand lashing out as Rey’s staff dipped downwards from the recoil.

She had no time to react. The wave of magic struck her in the chest, sending her flying. The moments between her feet leaving the ground and her landing stretched for an eternity.

Rey had been sick before, the kind of wretched fever and pain that left her bedridden for days while Obi-Wan scrambled to find better treatment. It was the kind of pain that turned her mind to mush, conjuring monsters and memories that didn't exist.

That feeling, only amplified by a thousand, coursed through her body.

A calm settled over. She was going to die. She had found the source of the plague and that plague was going to kill her.

Her back slammed against the tree, the force vibrating through her bones. A strange feeling passed through her, the molten fire in her veins being replaced by a leaden exhaustion. She turned to see yellowed wood, the fibers curling and reaching for her. The needles fell like snow, brittle and dry.

“It matters little.” The wraith hunched over, curling into the smoking wound in his side. He started to retreat, eyes scanning the trees.

“You will die, child,” he spat before disappearing into the shadows.

She was alone and she staggered to her feet.

The tree behind her creaked and moaned, the recipient of the curse meant to kill her. Thousands of years of aging seemed to happen in seconds, the tree weakened by the magic.

The tree’s siblings stood tall and beautiful as it died.

Rey darted forward and shielded herself as the tree shed branches, each hitting with loud thumps. Finally, there was an almighty crack as the base uprooted and the trunk fell with a boom.

Sawdust and mold plumed through the air as she covered her face with her cloak.

An absolute silence closed over the clearing.

The noise began again in a whispering breeze, a quiet inhale. It picked up in intensity, rushing through the space, the trees around her swaying and creaking softly.

Rey stood, frozen.

The hushing sound of the wind through the branches reached a fever pitch.

An icy-hot sensation passed through her, starting at the crown of her head and making its way down to the tips of her toes. Lights danced in her vision, almost blinding.

The wind stilled to a light breeze and the birds and bugs returned.

Rey glanced at her staff to find a scale of red wood that started at her pinky finger on her right hand, from the tip down to the second knuckle. She scratched at it, trying to peel off the rough layer like one would a scab. Pain burned through her in answer, tears blurring in her eyes.

Panic crawled into her throat, making her shake like a leaf in the wind. She might as well have tried to pry off her own muscle.

“What is this?” she hissed.

The breeze blew louder, carrying words on the forest's breath. “_Payment_.”

The word echoed in her mind as it did through the clearing, weighing on her as if the tree that saved her life had fallen on her.

The presence left and she stumbled to her knees, body drained from the use of magic. The sudden chill sapped what little energy she had left. Night had fallen and she was exposed.

Rey closed her eyes, acceptance clutching at her chest. She couldn't make a shelter, much less move from where she had fallen.

She dug her staff into the ground, pulling herself up so she was propped against the fallen trunk. The gem glowed faintly, doubling and tripling in her blurry vision as shadowy sleep swallowed her up.

Distantly, she could hear the crunch of leaves crushed underfoot.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted with Chapter 5 on 10/4!  
Enjoy :D

Her dreams were of shadow and suffocation. Unknown hands wrapped around her neck and squeezed. Unknown magic burned into her bone marrow, turning her insides to ash.

Consciousness returned with a shuddering jolt. Her eyes were gummy and her stomach hollow. The smell of melting wax and herbs and fur filled her nose.

Fur? She didn't remember fur when she had collapsed on the forest floor.

The memories flooded back, the fight and the trees and that weakness so strong she was sure her heart would stop from it. Now, she was covered in fur pelts and somewhere different from where she had lost consciousness

She tentatively reached up a hand and rubbed her eyes before opening them. She stared at a low dirt ceiling, warm light the only sign that dream had truly turned to reality.

“Where?” she wondered aloud.

“You’re welcome.”

Rey gasped, flinching away from the voice.

A masked figure that was almost comically big for the small space hunched over a fire, poking at it with a stick before turning to her. Dark eyes peered at her through the holes in the mask.

“Who are you?” she asked, wishing that she had her staff in her hands right now. It rested on the floor, just out of arm’s reach.

He radiated magic, dark and light, not unlike the forest around them.

“I could ask you the same question, _intruder_,” the deep voice answered her.

She took a moment to look around. Candles cast faint light throughout the small space. Smoke from the fire drifted up through a hole in the roof, the black-blue circle telling her that it was just past sunset or right before dawn. The hut was crafted out of dirt and wood, formed out of the forest.

This was something he either made or found. She was lucky that she was under his roof and not exposed to the elements as she slept.

“I’m sorry for…_intruding_,” she murmured.

Technically, she wasn’t intruding on his hut unless she had tripped over it in a panicked haze that she couldn't remember. If he brought her here, she was his guest, his prisoner, or his next meal. If the latter, she should’ve expected a dagger driven through her heart or severing her neck by now.

Rey pushed her arm underneath her body to prop herself up. A leaden feeling clung to her bones, turning her muscles to liquid.

“What’s wrong with me?” she asked, sinking back into the pelts when exhaustion took over again.

Her eyes drifted closed again as the man spared her a glance before turning back to where he hunched over a glowing fire. “Not a clue.”

* * *

* * *

When she awoke again, the man was still there, but the circle in the ceiling was a blinding white that spilled into the hut. She felt stronger, though still strange.

“How did you find me?” she asked, now confident she could have a conversation without passing out again.

Her unlikely savior tended to a rusty pot hanging over a small fire, poking at something that smelled more like dirt than meat. “I was tracking a deer and instead found you.”

She could almost imagine it, this man almost tripping over her where she lay on the forest’s floor. He sounded like he would’ve preferred the deer.

“You left the deer?” she asked, incredulous.

His hand hesitated as he stirred the pot, a tiny hitch of motion that she would’ve missed if she wasn’t watching him so closely. “Your corpse would attract scavengers and scare away the deer for miles. In a word, yes.”

Gratitude filled her chest. “Thank you.”

He grunted, neither rejecting nor accepting the statement. Perhaps, she shouldn’t be thanking him so quickly. “You reek of unfamiliar magic. Once you were weakened, all sorts of things would come for you. With my luck, they would attack me as well.”

“Okay, got it,” she grumbled. He saved her out of a selfish desire for his own safety. That was fair enough, especially in a place like this. She would’ve probably done the same if she was in a hut in the middle of a cursed forest.

Rey took the time to look around the small space.

His belongings were all worn and frayed, from the bound books to the folded-up clothes and wooden utensils.

She realized that the softness she was laying on was pelts, just slightly raised off of the ground by a rudimentary bed frame.

This man, spirit, whatever, had obviously been living or planned to live in the forest for a long time.

She watched as he dipped a warped-looking ladle into the pot and scooped some soup into a wooden bowl. Rey kept close watch on his hands as he looked down at the bowl, up to her, and back.

“I only have one bowl. Finish it quick so I can have a turn.”

He held it out and she took it, albeit hesitantly. The bowl was full of green-brown sludge: food, but utterly unappetizing.

“Are you a fairy?” she asked, unable to hide the accusation from her voice.

This was all too convenient. He rescues her and then offers her food without asking for payment.

She couldn't see his face, but she could imagine the offended expression.

“Why would you ask that,” he asked flatly.

He didn't exactly look like the forest spirits Obi-Wan had told her about, but they could come in many forms. If he was playing dumb to try to trick her, she wasn’t going to fall for it.

“I’m not about to become your slave because I ate the food you offered me,” Rey said, ready to throw the bowl of food back at him.

The man in the mask stared at her before shuffling closer. Rey did her best not to shrink back as he leaned down and gripped her staff that lay on the ground. Rey watched his skin make contact with the iron inlays in the dark wood.

His skin didn’t burn and he didn’t recoil in pain. 

“No. I am not a fairy.”

“You’re human,” Rey said.

“As human as they get around here.” At her hesitation, he sighed loudly, “I expect no payment for this food. It’ll go bad by the time I get hungry again anyway.”

She didn't fully believe him, but the hollow pain in her abdomen demanded food. If she tied herself to him, then her fate and the fate of her town would lie in how benevolent he was. If she would only be doomed to servitude as her town was destroyed, she could simply drive her dagger into her heart and free herself.

She brought the bowl to her mouth and tipped it. Rey suppressed the wince of disgust as the sludge washed over her tongue. It tasted just how it looked—like mud and plants.

“It’s good,” she said as she wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

“You’re lying, but thank you.”

She returned the bowl to him and watched him pour himself his serving.

“Nothing good is flowering right now,” he explained. “That leaves little to eat.”

That didn't sound quite right to Rey. The Ticos’ orchards were just coming upon harvest before she left.

He turned his back to her as he lifted his mask just enough to eat his portion of soup.

She didn't know what kind of disfigurement would cause him to hide his face from her, but she didn't dare ask.

He poured some water into the bowl, swishing it around before drinking that as well with a grunt that she could only describe as resigned disgust.

She looked around for a window, to find something to entertain herself with. While the hole in the roof told her enough about what time of day it was, she didn't know how long she had been unconscious.

“What’s your name?” he asked, snapping her from her thoughts.

She paused, biting her lip. Names had power. Speaking them aloud, even writing them, could leave herself bound to him or to the forest itself. He may have been human, but he had his own power.

“Hesitation, smart,” he mused.

Deciding that it would be the best course of action to give him what he wanted and not antagonize him, she lifted up a finger and drew the three letters in the air. His eyes traced the movement.

For a moment, Rey wasn’t sure if she had made a poor assumption in thinking he knew how to read, before he nodded in understanding. “Rey,” he said.

She shrugged, not truly answering. It was odd to hear her name in the stranger’s mouth.

“Rey it is, then. I’m Kylo.”

Rey eyed him. “Is that your real name?”

He shrugged back in parody. “Perhaps. As you say, these woods have power. You can’t just throw your name around.”

Rey sat up fully; a swooping feeling sent bright lights flashing in her vision. Her head almost hit the low ceiling before she checked her movements. The fight with the wraith still had her drained, despite the long rest.

“How long have you lived here?” she wondered aloud.

“I stopped counting the days. I would say 10 years.”

She couldn't help but gasp. If not for her grandfather’s ring, her fate would be similar to his, if she didn't die first.

“Have you tried to leave?” she asked.

“I have no way of getting out or finding my way out.”

Rey sighed, lying back down on the bed. She wondered if he had slept since he had found her and, if he did, if he had slept on the floor.

“Why are you here, Rey?”

The question brought her to a halt and her chest clenched with guilt. She had forgotten her purpose. She had been so focused on not dying that she forgot the whole reason why she was in this forest to begin with.

How long had she been asleep? How bad had it gotten in her town while she was away?

“This cursed forest is spreading into my town. It already ruined my best friend’s fields. I’m here to stop it.”

Kylo huffed, almost choking on the sound. “A foolish endeavor.”

“I’m realizing that now,” Rey snapped, “Doesn’t mean I’m going to run and hide. My grandfather and friends are still there. If the town is destroyed, what stops this forest from destroying the next town and the next?”

Kylo leaned back. “I’ve come to accept it, so should you. Snoke is too powerful.”

She opened her mouth, her argument turning abruptly to a question. “Snoke? Who’s Snoke?”

“He’s the beast that haunts these woods. He has more power than you can imagine.”

“What does he look like?” Rey asked.

Kylo described a tall, pale man, with clothing fit for a king, confirming Rey’s suspicions.

“I know who he is,” Rey said, “He attacked me before you found me.”

His eyes widened slightly behind the mask. “And you survived?”

She lifted up her hand to reveal the wooden scale that enclosed her finger, surprised that he hadn’t seen it earlier. “He cursed me to kill me, but one of the trees took on that curse and exchanged it for this.”

His entire posture had become stiff, like a startled animal. “I thought I had sensed him when I found you. You’re lucky that you were cursed like that and not in the ways I’ve seen him curse people.”

“Are you cursed, too?” she asked.

He paused, glancing away from her. The answer didn't come and the conversation stalled.

Finally, the word came, barely audible over the crackling fire.

“Yes.”

* * *

* * *

That following morning, Kylo spoke even less than usual, as if the quiet confession from the night before still weighed on him.

“How about this? You help me help my town, and I get you out of here,” Rey said.

She had been sitting on that offer since she had awoken, turning it over in her mind as she watched Kylo come and go from the hut, only finding the courage when daylight had faded.

She had made herself useful by organizing his collection of herbs, tying them into little packets that would be easier for use, weighing each word.

A heavy silence followed her words, to be expected because she found the courage to speak up when he was in the middle of eating another helping of that disgusting soup. Silent, before she heard the incredulous huff from Kylo. “That’s a big offer for someone who was hopelessly lost when I found you.”

If only he knew. She was lost, but she had a way out. Her way out was just a one-way trip and would spell the end of her quest. He could be a thief, so she kept the ring’s power to herself.

“I have magic, just like you. I have my ways.”

Rey wished she could see his face from behind the mask. She prided herself in being good at reading people, but it was difficult if their expressions were completely hidden from her.

“Fine.”

Her eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “Really?”

He shrugged. Rey couldn't help but note how broad his shoulders were. He really was too big for this hut. How he had managed to live there for years, she had no idea.

“As I said, I have been here for a long time. I have little better to do.”

Rey nodded, though her instinct was to not trust him. She still wouldn’t trust him, not fully, just as he probably didn’t trust her. The fact that he would be helping her out of boredom didn’t instill much faith.

It was strange. She had just met him, but there was something that resonated with him, like meeting an old friend after years apart.

“You have a map or anything like that?”

Kylo shook his head. “I ran out of ink and paper years ago, lost most of it when my first hut was destroyed in a storm.”

“Storms, huh?” Rey muttered, looking towards the opening in the ceiling.

“A tree fell on the hut and destroyed it. I was lucky to get out alive.”

He gave no indication that he had been injured, his body giving away no tells, but she could imagine. She could imagine shattered bones and bloody gashes, illuminated by flashes of lightning, as vividly as if it were her own memories.

Kylo interrupted her reverie. “We leave at dusk, tomorrow.”

Rey scrunched her face. “Dusk? Shouldn’t we be leaving at dawn, when there’s light for us to see?”

“I don’t like travelling during the day.”

“I don’t like travelling at night!”

Kylo and Rey glared at each other.

“Why would travelling in the dark be any better than travelling in the light? Are you trying to get us both killed?” she demanded. “I didn't see anything beastly when I was travelling during the day.”

Kylo crossed his arms over his chest, head tilting to the side. “Ever thought that maybe Snoke wanted you to reach the clearing unharmed so that he could attack you? I know the forest and its creatures well.”

Rey sighed, realizing there was no winning, but she couldn't allow herself to lose either. “Can we compromise, then? We leave at midnight, so we can travel during the day and night. We rest at noon.”

If Kylo could read her mind, he would know she wasn’t going to budge on that. She would have to trust him, regardless, but it didn’t mean she would have to follow him at every step.

“Fine,” he relented, “I don’t think it’s the wisest idea.”

“None of this is wise, really. I’ve accepted that. I have a duty to my family and my friends. If it’s clear we can’t do it, I will lead you out of the forest. Then, I will lend my abilities for the evacuation.”

She didn’t want to think about their likely failure. She needed to hold hope in her heart, so she would surely fail.

Kylo fed more tinder to the fire. The wood of his mask caught strangely in the fire’s light and she could just barely see the shine of his eyes. “Very well. We should rest until then. You aren’t at full strength.”

“Is it that obvious?” Glancing down at her hands, she noted they were shaking faintly. Exhaustion still clung to her bones.

“Yes,” Kylo said. “I’m not going to drag you through the forest, so sleep while you can.”

“Are you going to sleep?”

He shuffled around before pulling out a blanket and setting it on the ground in front of the fire. “Yes.”

“That can’t be comfortable,” Rey noted, a wild thought of him climbing into this tiny cot with her dancing through her head before she pushed it away.

He pulled his hood over his head and flopped onto the floor, curling around the fire. He didn’t look up at her. “Well, the cot is too small for us to share and I’ve given up on caring about my back.”

Rey burrowed a little deeper into the pelts, guilt rattling around in her chest. She felt bad about depriving him the use of his own bed and had felt bad since it became clear that he was giving up comfort for her sake. The bed wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it was much better than the floor.

“Did you make the bed yourself?” she murmured.

Silence fell over them, save their breathing and the crackling of the fire. Convinced that he had fallen asleep, she allowed herself to relax a little and let the pull of sleep take her into the depths. Her wooden finger scratched uncomfortably against her flesh fingers. Now that she wasn’t plagued by such intense exhaustion, the annoyance of it bothered her more than usual.

It wasn’t enough to keep her from sleeping. She was sure nothing would keep her from that, even a curse.

Just as wakefulness turned to sleep, a deep and quiet voice carried through the still air.

“I’m good at building things.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted with Chapter 4 on 10/4!  
Enjoy :D

Rey found herself running, shadowy trees closing around her. A large hooded figure led her with a strong grip around her wrist, their feet digging into the dirt.

“Come on, Rey. Stay with me,” he said.

She knew the voice: her unlikely savior, Kylo. What were they running from? What couldn't they stand and face?

Suddenly, her feet were anchored to the ground and the hand around her wrist yanked free. Kylo kept running.

“Kylo!” she yelled.

He didn't slow down, didn't even spare her a glance backwards. He disappeared into the trees; his loud footsteps faded to nothing.

“Kylo?”

She glanced down to see that brown wood had covered her feet and crept up to her knees. She had _roots_.

Rey struggled, digging her hands into the wood and trying to peel it off. Staff in hand, she swung it down against it. Magic popped and sparked and her hand burned as her staff splintered into shards and the gem shattered.

Undeterred, the wood encased her body, crushing her chest. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would come out.

* * *

* * *

Rey sat up with a frantic gasp; her eyes blurred with fearful tears.

A dream. It was just a dream. The wooden scale around her finger remained but she could move her legs.

Rey’s eyes immediately found Kylo’s, who had frozen, kneeling over a small pile of his belongings.

“Bad dream,” she murmured, blushing in embarrassment.

He didn’t comment. Instead, he handed her a small piece of cloth soaked in water. She took it gratefully and washed her face and neck of the sweat.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, not looking up from where he worked. He was packing things into a pack similar to hers, preparing for the journey ahead of them.

Rey shook her head, despite knowing he couldn't see her.

“No. It’s fine.”

“Good,” came the clipped reply

Of course, he wouldn’t be much comfort. As a man who lived on his own for a decade, he likely didn't know how to comfort someone in distress.

The hours leading up to midnight were spent sharing another unappetizing pot of soup. Kylo explained that the concoction was made of edible leaves and roots he had foraged in the forest.

“A meal during famine,” he stated.

“And when there’s a feast?”

He huffed quietly and Rey pretended it was a laugh. “Meat and berries. That doesn’t happen often but when it does, I enjoy it.”

Rey didn’t allow herself to dwell too long on that concept. The more time passed, the more she missed having proper meals, she didn’t want to be haunted by hunger while she carried out her mission.

She fished out her pair of gloves, rubbing her hands together to warm them.

Rey’s pack looked pathetically small compared to Kylo’s. He clearly had anticipated a long stay when he came to the forest and, from what Rey could see, he didn't leave anything behind.

“Do you want me to carry anything for you?” Rey asked.

Kylo didn't look up from his work. “You’re carrying enough and you’re still recovering. I’m fine.”

And that was that. She didn’t press the matter. He looked strong enough, if the apparent bulk underneath his black robes was any indication.

She shrugged on her bag and reclaimed her staff as midnight approached.

Kylo tied the rolled pelts from the bed on top of his bag with trained efficiency. He was ready to get up and leave at a moment’s notice.

“Do you have a staff?” Rey asked. Her curiosity had grown as his belongings disappeared into his pack and the hut became emptier and emptier. Magic users usually had staffs and Kylo seemed no different.

As an answer, he reached under the bare pallet of the cot and pulled out a blackened wooden staff. Gold and iron in straight lines etched down the wood.

At the top was a red gem, jagged, more like a weapon on its own than a simple magnifier of his abilities.

She reached out instinctively. It radiated power like the air after a lightning strike.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Her hand flinched back as she remembered herself. During the times Obi-Wan took her travelling to meet other magic users, he made very clear: a staff was an extension of self, to be treated with utmost respect.

If Kylo was offended by the near faux pas, he didn't voice it. “My…my uncle helped me find it when I was younger. The gem was blue, once upon a time.”

She couldn't really imagine it. At this point, the gem and its color perfectly matched its user.

“I didn't know they could change color,” Rey murmured.

“Neither did I. It works. That's what matters.”

Rey winced at his brusque tone. “Right, of course.”

She stood as well as she could with the short ceiling. They would likely find no permanent structures to hide in. Her tarp and whatever he had stowed away would be what kept them from the elements.

“Let’s go,” she said.

The door was a woven slab of branches hooked to the opening in the hut. She squeezed her way through and straightened as she stepped outside.

The sharp chill of the evening air stung her nose, but it felt good in her lungs, almost cleansing. Her back cracked after lying down and being hunched over for such a long time.

Ink-black night was only broken by a sprinkle of stars, no moonlight peeking between the trees. Seeing the towering trees still brought a humbling feeling of smallness, but it now lacked the primal sense of fear that she had experienced earlier.

Kylo followed close behind, almost melting into the nighttime shadows.

“Alright, my fearless guide, which direction are we heading?” she asked, forcing some levity into her voice as she turned towards the clearing.

The moon offered no light, but the lightning bugs made up for it. Where the daytime was quiet and still, lights floated in the air. Some ambled lazily, others moved with purpose. What she assumed were fireflies shone brighter than the ones she was used to. The moths glowed with their own light, some tiny and others large.

“First things first, the hut.”

Rey scanned the surroundings, looking for the glint of an animal’s eye or the moving shadow of a monster. The bugs were very distracting and she wondered if there was a repellent charm she could use.

“What about the hut?” she asked, absorbed with scanning their surroundings for the glint of an animal’s eyes or the moving shadow of a monster. The fireflies were very distracting and she wondered if there was a repellent charm she could use.

“Rey, we have to destroy it.”

She stopped and turned to Kylo, frowning. “Why?”

“We can be tracked.”

“Tracked by _what_?”

Kylo didn't answer as he struck the roof with his staff. It cracked like an eggshell, crumbling into itself. “Snoke. He can use any lingering magic to track us. We have to burn it to ash.”

Rey couldn't help but feel skeptical. Magic lingered, but it would lack direction. Snoke must be been a powerful magic user if he could track them from such small traces.

Kylo hissed an enchantment under his breath, a kind of magic that was both familiar and strangely different. Magic took many different forms, each user never quite the same as the next.

White flames consumed the ruins, burning hot and bright.

Rey stretched out her hand, keeping the fire contained and preventing it from jumping to the trees that surrounded the small clearing.

The bark enclosed about her finger tingled a little. She wanted to scratch at it and peel it off; memory of the pain stopped her.

Illuminated by the burning fire, the scale looked bigger than it had before, but she put it out of her mind.

Yes, she had been cursed, but a wooden pinky finger was insignificant in comparison to what she always imagined curses to be like. Kylo had been so corrupted that his gem had been affected as well. It didn't look like he was actively dying, but that made it almost worse.

Now that he used magic, she could feel it coming off of him, a darkness. It felt like a manifestation of his suffering, something worth pitying, not dangerous.

They watched as the hut burned to nothing more than ash. Kylo kicked his foot through it, mixing it into the dirt and leaves.

It really was a pity that the hut had to be destroyed; it was a work of excellent craftsmanship, for something built by one man with limited supplies.

“That should be enough. Let’s go.”

Kylo started into the night and Rey watched his back for a moment before following him. He didn't even perform a navigation charm to get his bearings; she assumed he knew the cardinal directions in relation to his hut already.

She shrugged to herself and pulled her hood over her head, feeling marginally safer. The warmth might have been giving her a false sense of safety, but she would take it nonetheless.

If Kylo was going to kill her, she at least had delayed her fate for a few days.

“Where are we going?” she asked, walking just a bit faster to keep up with him.

The bright bugs illuminated his mask, casting strange shadows. “Best not to broadcast our path to the things that lurk around this forest. I know where we’re going.”

“How can you know for sure where we’re going?” she pressed, “You didn’t even cast a navigation spell.”

“Who said I didn’t?”

“I didn’t see you do it.”

“There’s more kinds of magic than the ones you’re used to,” he grumbled. “Your teacher didn’t serve you as well as they should have.”

Defensiveness rose to the forefront. Her memories were of patient lessons and a steady buildup of strength. “My grandfather is wise,” she snapped.

“I thought mine was too, as well as his son and my father after him, but soon I learned they were foolish men, stuck in the past. We must leave our teachers behind, or we will never grow.”

Rey’s mouth twisted. She knew there was some truth in his words, but something about it seemed like they weren’t his words. It was almost like a mantra that was ingrained into him until it became his truth. She wondered if all of his family had magic like him. It was rare, most magic users came from families with magic in their bloodline already. She couldn't be too quick to make conclusions, as some of the most powerful magic users had no familial history of the ability.

“He taught me all he could. His wisdom got me this far.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit; unless he’s been in your ear or on your shoulder the entire time, you fought Snoke, you alone, and lived to tell.”

Rey reached out a hand and a tiny moth flitted between her fingers.

She couldn’t ask for a better mentor or guardian in Obi-Wan. He welcomed her and loved her unconditionally. He gave her the building blocks for what she would become.

“One day, you’ll meet him and then I’ll prove you wrong,” she announced.

“I’ll take you up on your offer.”

The thought of her and Kylo ending up at her grandfather’s doorstep, dirty and tired, Kylo’s face still obscured by a mask, made her smile.

Rey, the hero of the hour, dragging a hermit from the forest after saving the town from destruction. They would be the talk of the town.

It was a fun thing to imagine, though she could almost sense that it wouldn’t be how this story would end. They could walk out together, at least. At least, hopefully, they could have that.

A decade away from civilization would mean Kylo would have a lot to get used to again, like crowds and furnaces. Hell, she would need to have time for that.

Even the sound of Kylo’s voice was startlingly loud.

If she only had to hear Kylo’s voice and never hear or see Snoke ever again, she would be fine.

Well, his voice and his footsteps. It was almost as if he wanted to make as much noise as physically possible. His feet seemed to find every dried leaf and twig as they walked along; snaps and cracks mingled with the sound of each foot coming down.

Rey made an effort to walk more quietly beside him.

They continued through the night, stars and bugs lighting the way. Starting at midnight meant there was a lot of walking in the dark before sunrise.

She just had to keep one foot in front of the other and make sure nothing killed her.

Kylo seemed to know the forest almost instinctively and could navigate it blindfolded if he needed to. His steps didn’t falter, if only to avoid tripping over tree roots.

Hours passed, the chill no longer registering, but her feet started to ache.

“Can we stop for a break, so I don’t keel over and die before we actually get anywhere?”

Kylo stopped, turning back to her.

“Fine. Ten minutes.”

“Will you be counting?”

He paused before sitting heavily on a fallen log. “No.”

Rey shrugged and sat down on a root, rolling her ankles, relieving the weight. Though she had brought sturdy shoes, they didn't feel supportive enough.

She rested the staff across her thighs and set her bag between her legs, taking the opportunity to relax just a bit before their journey would continue. Kylo mirrored her, setting his things on the ground.

She sipped from her canteen, rationing precious water as much as she could. No food right now, maybe when they stopped for the day at noon, though her stomach wept for it now.

She rubbed her fingers, feeling the smooth wood.

It didn’t hurt, but it was disconcerting. She feared that when the sun rose she would find her entire hand covered in it.

If it accelerated, she wouldn’t be able to finish her mission. She would just turn and her life would end and she would’ve failed. She sucked in a breath through her teeth, tugging her gloves over her hands. She didn’t want to think about it. That would be something for her to worry about later.

Wings flapped loudly through the air and Rey jerked in shock. Her eyes searched the sky for the source only to see a dark shadow dart through the air above their heads. It came to rest on a nearby branch. The faint outline and the glint of round eyes told her it was a huge owl.

A squeal and a faint crunch cut through the air as the owl's head bobbled.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust, not needing the sunlight to figure what happened a stone's throw away from them.

It was the first bird that wasn’t a porg she had seen. She could hear birdsong from the hut, but never actually saw anything.

“Is there anything bigger than that owl around here?”

“Of course, there are. You’re looking at him.”

Rey scoffed, biting back a comment that he would rival an elk for the title of largest, most ungainly thing in the forest.

“Fine, but animals. Actual animals. Things with claws and teeth and four legs.”

“Deer. There are twisted things here as well. Things like bears and mountain lions, twisted by the magic in the forest. I’ve only seen them once or twice in the time I have lived here.”

She cringed at the thought. The dismembered deer—it felt like it had been months since she had seen it—had a similar corruption. She could only imagine that there would be similar with the bears and mountain lions. She didn't know what a mountain lion looked like, but she imagined a lithe golden animal.

As for the corrupt versions of those, she could imagine soulless eyes and tusks and claws.

“We’ve probably scared everything in miles,” Kylo sighed.

Rey winced, hoping that he didn't just curse them to being relentlessly hunted down.

“You say that,” she muttered.

They stood, collecting their packs.

Kylo noted offhandedly. “You’ve had your head on a swivel since we started.”

“Someone has to. Speaking of devils often make them appear.” She bared her teeth, mimicking a monster. “I'd like to not become someone’s midnight snack.”

“Well, let’s keep moving, unless you want to grow roots and stay here,” Kylo paused, as if realizing what he just implied, “Or, never mind.”

Rey nodded brusquely and continued forward. Her feet didn’t have any roots or wood, but the fear was always there. It didn’t feel good to have one of her nightmares plucked out of the air and thrown in her face, though Kylo probably didn’t mean to offend.

No roots, yet. She shoved her right hand into her pocket, ignoring the unnatural scrape of wood against the soft leather glove. She was so used to carrying her staff in her right hand that it felt awkward having that hand empty. Having a wooden finger would make using that hand difficult, so she would just have to get used to using her left hand for most things.

Her teeth chattered; she was thankful that there was only a faint breeze to contend with and not rain. The staff gave off some heat, but it wasn’t enough to make much of a difference without expending precious energy.

Well, maybe she could afford a little. Being stingy over her power didn’t do her any favors while hiking in a forest.

Murmuring a spell under her breath, she brought the staff closer to her body. It took a moment before warmth radiated off of it. Her skin prickled at the war between hot and cold.

“We’re okay,” she murmured.

She wasn’t going to freeze to death and she wasn’t going to turn into a tree, not that night.

Hunger gnawed at her stomach and her lips felt chapped despite what little water she allowed herself to drink.

The night wore on, dawn still illusive. It was summer when she left her town, the nights short and the days warm and bright. Now, the sun seemed to drag its feet, not unlike a winter's night.

She swallowed, breath hissing between her teeth.

No amount of magic could stifle the sun's light. She could hold that fact close. The sun would rise. Whether she would live to see it or not, was the question.

Her childhood hymn chimed softly in her head in response to her fear. It was comforting for a moment, until she realized the song was coming from outside of herself

Trickling in through the trees, it was a faint, familiar song; each note rang clear.

“Do you hear that?” Rey asked, more focused on the music than whatever answer Kylo would give.

“What?”

Rey glanced towards the sound, steps faltering. It wasn’t a natural sound. It was metal on wood, man-made. Someone else could be in the forest with them.

“Wind chimes.”

Before she stopped, Kylo grabbed her elbow and tugged her along. The shock of him touching her made her pause, letting him drag her a few feet, before she remembered herself. She pulled her arm free with an indignant noise.

He whirled on her in response, eyes flashing in the intermittent light. “I’ve been in the forest for a long time,” Kylo snapped. “Trust me, those aren’t wind chimes.”

Anger rose in turn as the song reduced to a ghost of sound. “What are they, then?”

“_I don't know_.”

“If you don’t know, then how do you know they’re bad?”

They glared at each other. The chimes had gone silent.

Kylo leaned in close, whispering, “Because I don’t hear any chimes, Rey. Just you.”

Rey suddenly felt cold, colder than what the evening air would cause. She turned to Kylo, who stared forward. Were it not for the glow of his staff and the flying bugs, he would have melted into the darkness and she would be left following a shadow.

“Oh.”

Numbly, she followed Kylo through the forest. Thinking on it, the song didn't sound quite right.

“Yeah,” Kylo muttered, almost mocking, “Oh.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted with Chapter 7 on 10/7  
Enjoy!

The rush of relief Rey felt when sunlight started to bleed through the night sky almost bowled her over. No night was eternal, though it had felt like it while they walked.

Slowly, the tiny fireflies started to disappear, their flickering lights drowned out by the sun. The sky lightened to a clear blue, cloudless and still. The trees kept most of the heat away but she felt like a flower placed on a sunny windowsill, nourished by what rays cast over her skin.

“Finally,” she murmured.

Kylo didn’t comment. Since he only had black and some very dark grey to wear, he was likely to get very warm by noontime. At least, they would be resting. In theory, of course, provided that the forest didn’t come down over their heads in the hours between dawn and noon.

“So, why did you come to the forest?” Rey asked, breaking the odd, yet strangely comfortable silence that had fallen between them. “If you aren’t here to purify it, there has to be some other reason.”

It wasn’t exactly a vacation spot, especially with a demon like Snoke wandering around. There had to be a reason

“I had come here searching for someone,” Kylo admitted. “I’d given up looking.”

“Who was it?”

He shook his head. “Nobody important. They’re long-dead, I think.”

“Did you find a body, at least?”

“No.”

“Nothing at all?”

“It was as if he never existed, not that I knew what to look for. He had gone into the forest long before I was born,” he muttered.

“You came here for someone you never met?”

“_You’re_ here to become a hero, maybe even a martyr. To prove yourself.”

“I care about my family and friends,” Rey snapped, “This isn’t to stroke my ego.”

They had stopped, facing each other.

“He had magic, like me. I could hear him in my dreams. He wanted to show me something.”

Rey didn't know what to say to that. She knew of voices in the darkness of her dreams, but they were always so distant and could never be attached to a person.

“My family told me that he was a monster,” Kylo whispered. “I wanted to get answers for myself.”

That would have to be enough. They could talk around this topic for hours. He obviously thought she was a naïve fool to come here to cure the forest. She wasn’t fully buying his story about a voice from a man long gone calling to him. More talking would just expend energy.

“We're burning daylight,” she mumbled. “Let’s keep moving.”

Now, the silence was awkward. At least Kylo seemed content with walking in silence under the morning sun. She could accept that as well.

She pulled off her gloves with her teeth and tucked them into her pocket. The unnatural shock of seeing something attached to her that wasn’t skin and bone brought a sweat down her back.

Nothing she could do.

Silence, until the faint bubbling of water crept through the air. At least, that was what she thought she heard. The chimes had sounded real as a perfect lure, so she had to be suspicious of the sound of a stream.

She glanced at Kylo, who stared forward. His footsteps didn’t slow and his head didn’t turn, as if he didn’t hear anything. It sounded real, not like a memory, but something present. Even the air felt a little cooler.

She couldn't help but ask. “Is that a stream? Or am I just hearing things again?”

Kylo paused and tilted his head. “Hm.” He was still and quiet for a long time.

“Well?”

“You might be right,” Kylo allowed.

“_Might_?” Rey exclaimed. “I can hear it. Can you?”

Now, Kylo laughed, almost mocking, “Of course, I can. Just want to make sure you knew what you were hearing.”

Rey sighed, rolling her eyes, before she started towards the sound of running water. “You’re ridiculous.”

If it was anyone else, she would’ve ribbed them for messing with her.

“You coming?” she called out over her shoulder.

Kylo answered by trailing behind her.

In the dawn light, he was a shadowy aberration next to the vibrant greens and reds of the forest around him.

Finally, the trees thinned to reveal a stream that snaked through the forest. It was deep enough that she couldn’t see the bottom.

“Finally, water,” Rey breathed.

This time, there were no algae blooms on the edges, no obvious signs of taint. Not even plants dipped into the water to potentially spread poison.

“Be careful.”

She froze, though the words lacked any real urgency.

“What?”

“The water might be unsafe.”

Rey sighed, the excitement of the discovery deflating almost instantly, exasperation taking its place. She really had landed in a hellhole. Next, she expected to stumble across a poison fog or a burning fissure in the earth.

“Is _any_ of the water good to drink?” she whined, unembarrassed by her tone.

“Some,” Kylo mumbled. “You can test it with your staff. I don’t trust it, even the streams I’ve come to rely on. From one day to the next, dark magic could poison it in ways that might not be obvious.”

She figured he meant the look and smell of it. The pond she had seen days earlier had the diseased-looking plants around its edge. That, and the vision in the water. If all the water sources brought visions of death and blood, she had no idea how should would be able to survive her journey without dying of thirst.

She watched the bright light emitted from the gem for a moment, twirling it slowly in the air.

Rey stepped towards the stream’s edge, dipping the gem into the water.

The light was smothered instantly and she could feel the metal inlays warm under her hands, like a warning. It wasn’t until she took the gem from the water before the light returned to full-strength.

“Not safe,” she murmured, disappointment naked in her voice.

She shook off droplets from the staff, sending tiny ripples downstream.

Whether it was a curse or poison, the gem could sense that something was dangerous in the water.

“Not safe at all,” Kylo confirmed. “Don’t know if it would kill you in minutes or days. No amount of boiling or purification spells will cure it.”

He stuck his staff’s end into the water and let it dig into the silt. He skimmed it through and a cloud of silt and tiny flecks of bone kicked up in a plume.

“Definitely not good,” Rey said.

The water still gurgled cheerfully as they walked away.

“Everything seems to be deadly in this forest,” she groaned, “How is anyone supposed to get food and water?”

“They don’t,” he said dryly.

He pulled up his shirt—which would’ve taken less effort if he didn't wear so many damn layers—just enough for Rey to see pale skin covered in freckles stretched over muscles and prominent ribs. The white-silver raise of a scar caught her eye before he pushed his shirt down again, hiding himself from view.

His clothes hid his body well. She shouldn’t have assumed that he was healthy and fed, but he had kept the illusion well.

“Don’t pity me.”

She startled a bit, training her sorrowful expression into something more neutral.

“I don’t. I’m just sorry.”

Kylo grunted, clearly not believing her.

“Come on. Maybe we’ll find something that won’t poison us.”

* * *

* * *

They didn't find any streams or anything edible. Instead, they found a clearing with plenty of shade once the sun was high in the sky and the heat started to get oppressive.

The heat itself didn't bother Rey too much, but it was exhaustion from walking for hours that wore down at her. She couldn't tell how Kylo was doing; his mask covered any obvious signs. His shoulders seemed to hunch a little. He still wore all black and didn't move to remove the first or second layer of whatever he had on.

“I’ll take first watch while you sleep,” Rey said, “At dusk, it will be my turn.”

“What makes you think that it’s a good idea?” Kylo asked.

She shrugged. “You like the night so much, so you might as well be awake for it.”

For a moment, it looked like Kylo was going to argue with her. Instead, he shouldered off his pack and let it drop with a thump.

He followed it, sitting cross-legged against a sturdy trunk. “So you say, Rey. It’s not the worst idea in the world.”

She stuck her tongue out at him as she unceremoniously dumped her bag on the ground. She still had work to do.

Staff in hand, she stepped to the edge of the clearing. It was just big enough to house two bodies and a campfire without it being too cramped.

Rey punched a divot into the dirt, murmuring a protection spell.

Two magic users meant they were a large and loud target for anything that could hone into their scent and remnants of their magic. She wasn’t going to bet on Kylo’s confidence that nothing would try to hunt them. Power often feared power and sought to destroy it.

That called for the more powerful protection spells in her repertoire.

She formed several divots around the clearing’s edge, inching around where Kylo sat.

She closed the circle, the barrier just barely catching the light, casting a faint shimmer when looking at it at an angle.

The murkier the field, the less pure it was and less powerful. When she was young, the first protection barriers she created were like walls of milk and almost useless. It only served to keep bugs away from her outdoor tea parties.

“That’ll work,” she murmured.

Kylo looked around, regarding the wards.

“Are they enough, oh expert of the forest?” Rey asked.

“I think only Snoke and God would be able to break through them.”

He actually sounded impressed.

“My grandfather taught me,” she said smugly.

She sat down across from him and pulled her bag into her lap. She dug through her bag to find one of many small leather pouches.

The faint smell of fruit hit her nose as soon as she undid the tie.

“Here, hold out your hand,” she said.

He pried off one of his gloves and obeyed, albeit with some hesitation.

She turned the pouch over and shook some dried fruit onto his hand. Kylo rolled them in his hand, not quite accepting the gift.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Dried cherries. My friend’s family has an orchard and they grow just about everything.”

Rose’s parents would probably coo over Kylo, shoving food in his face until he accepted his fate and had a full dinner.

Rose and Paige, well, they would probably rib Rey the entire time, teasing her about the man she had dragged from the forest. Rose had her flirtation with Finn; Paige had her romance with a blacksmith who used her free time to make delicate jewelry for Paige. Neither woman pushed Rey to date or flirt, but Kylo would be too obvious a target for their teasing.

Rey tossed some berries into her mouth to hide the dumb grin that spouted on her face.

“These aren’t poison,” Rey said. “Just so you know.”

Kylo really ought to have known that she wasn’t going to kill her guide before they actually got anywhere.

She made a show of chewing loudly and as obnoxiously as possible. “See?”

“Ha, ha.”

His free hand moved his mask out of the way for him to dump all but one of the cherries into his mouth. The last one he rolled around between his long fingers before crushing it slightly.

Rey blushed and busied herself with clearing a patch for a campfire.

His hands were the only things he had really revealed to her and she couldn’t stop looking at them. She really should stop looking at his hands. Staring at his large stature wouldn’t help either.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the last cherry disappear. Red flecks stained his hand, but they too moved behind his mask to reappear clean once again.

“Thank you,” he said. “I haven’t had something like that in a long time.”

She blinked, caught staring. “Y—you’re welcome.”

“Are you okay?”

Rey looked up from her hands to his masked face. The words lacked any malice, filled with more honest curiosity than anything else, but she didn't trust it.

“I’m fine. Go to sleep, Kylo.”

Instead of arguing with her, he untied one of the pelts tied to his pack and rolled it out on the dirt.

“Did you bring those into the forest?” Rey wondered.

“I killed the thing myself, quick and clean. Took forever to skin it and clean the pelt.”

He laid down on his stomach with a grunt.

“Worth the effort?” she wondered, eyeing the brown fur.

“Definitely.”

He turned onto his side, faced away from her, before he turned onto his stomach, hood fully over his head.

She glanced around, trying to find something to do. The clearing left plenty of room, but had little to work with. She could only twiddle her fingers for so long before she got restless.

There was a fallen log just outside of the barrier, perfect for tinder.

“Damn,” she muttered.

It took minutes of her mentally debating before the need for firewood became too great.

She glanced at Kylo, who seemed to be asleep.

The wards would protect him. He had trusted her to keep him safe while he slept.

She stood and watched Kylo’s resting form, his body moving with each gentle breath.

The barrier pulled at her in warning as she stepped out of the clearing. It couldn't protect her if she was beyond it.

She stepped through and her staff warmed under her hands.

It wouldn’t break, even if she stepped beyond. It was part of her and would allow her through again once she was done.

Nothing lunged out to attack her. Nothing had been hiding in wait to eat her.

The fallen tree was definitely dead, so she didn't feel bad as she hacked at it with her dagger, peeling off chunks of dried bark.

Red fibers sprinkled over her gloved hands.

The wood was so dry that it was too easy to form a pile at her feet with snapped branches and tree bark.

She collected it all in her arms, stacking her staff on top of it. Her skin buzzed as she retraced her steps back to the barrier.

It allowed her through without resistance, welcoming her back into its embrace.

She dumped the wood on the ground as quietly as she could.

Kylo didn’t stir, not when she returned or started making noise. He was very much asleep, to her relief. She didn’t want to annoy her guide by keeping him up longer than she had already.

She crouched next to the wood and began to organize: The large from the small, the twigs from the soft inner bark.

The twigs she collected into her lap and settled into the shade as the afternoon dragged on.

She whittled at them with her knife to tiny matchsticks, some pointed and some resembling dumbbells, collecting them into a pile.

The delicately curled shavings formed their own pile in her lap.

It was methodical work, but it was something to do in the silence. It distracted her from the ever-present feeling that they were being watched.

By the time sunset approached, she had no more wood to prepare and had started to stare off into space.

Rey looked at her work with a satisfied nod: a fire next to a pile of shavings and soft fibers, a pile of tiny twigs, and a pile of bigger branches and slices of bark. It was enough to keep it going through to midnight. Kylo would have to be actively trying to put the fire out while she was sleeping otherwise.

It was her turn to get ready to sleep.

Rey took out her blanket and rolled it out. It wasn’t the same as a fur pelt, but her grandmother had made it for her, her grandfather’s magic woven in with it.

The fire crackled as the sky gave way for the moon and stars. Exhaustion pressed against her temples, tugging at her eyelids.

Kylo slept like the dead. She could only hope the same would happen to her.

“Kylo,” she called out.

His torso moved rhythmically, content to sleep and ignore Rey as long as he could.

“Come on, Kylo.”

She poked his leg with a staff and the steady breaths were interrupted by a snort as his body shook awake.

“What time is it?” Kylo mumbled.

His voice was clearer than usual, though thick from sleep.

Kylo had removed his mask in sleep, but his hood effectively hid his face the entire time.

His body shifted again as he propped himself up on one arm, the other going for the mask resting next to him. She caught the tip of a nose and curve of a cheek before his mask returned. She even saw strands of black hair hanging down and she realized that she didn't know the color of his hair until that moment.

He glanced at her, expecting an answer to a question that she suddenly couldn't remember.

“What?”

Kylo sighed. “Never mind. It’s dusk, obviously.”

“Right. Of course.”

She stood up and her back cracked and popped in protest.

“What?” Kylo wondered.

“It’s dark now. I need to make sure we’re safe.”

She made a circuit around the clearing, checking the wards for weak spots. The barrier could last days without a problem, but she couldn't take any chances.

“I think we will be fine,” Kylo said.

Rey hummed quietly, prodding a stone at the edge of the wards.

“We can’t be too sure. You said there were monsters, right?”

“I did. That doesn’t mean you need to be paranoid.”

Rey bristled and laid down with a soft huff.

What a jerk. She was just trying to keep them both alive. There was no need for him to give her attitude about it.

“Wake me up at midnight, alright,” she said flatly.

She turned her back to Kylo, letting the heat from the fire seep into her spine.

“Rey.”

“Hm?”

Whatever Kylo was going to say, he obviously thought better of it. Or, that was what she thought until he spoke up again. “Do you want one of the pelts, so it’s easier for you to sleep?”

The offer carried gently through the still air and something like affection warmed her chest. It was a kind offer. Rey would’ve fallen over herself to accept if she wasn’t annoyed with him. Another blanket would make everything easier. If Kylo was going to offer something kind for her, she would want to encourage it.

“No, it’s okay.”

She was being contrary, but she didn't care. The leadenness that clung to her bones would put her to sleep before the cold could reach her.

“Rey?”

She blinked from underneath her hood; eyes weighed down. She tucked her arms close to her chest, curling up.

“Good night, Kylo.”

The fire crackled and the faint buzzing of bugs drifted from behind the trees.

She turned onto her back and glanced up at the high, high treetops and the faint starlight. The warmth wasn’t enough to completely put her to sleep, not yet.

She exhaled through her nose and turned back onto her side, only to freeze.

Instead of shadows and leaf litter, shimmering globs of flesh, mimicry of human limbs, writhed themselves against the barrier.

She shrunk into the covers. Her eyes cut between Kylo and the mass, but he seemed to be blissfully unaware or unconcerned.

“Let us in, please,” the creature gurgled. “It hurts. Your powers can heal us.”

Rey trembled, but did nothing.

When it became clear she wasn’t going to intervene, they slammed against the barrier.

“Whore! Misfit! You’re no better than your deadbeat parents!”

As they berated her, the masses clumped into what resembled human bodies. Bony fists struck the barrier again before they dissolved into vapor and disappeared.

Rey struggled to catch her breath, chasing the fear from her mind.

Kylo said nothing, only humming softly to himself.

She closed her eyes and focused on the quiet song until it lulled her to sleep.

* * *

* * *

“Rey, wake up.”

Her mouth was full of cotton and she was drenched with sweat. At some point, she had turned towards the fire in her sleep. Sweat coated her neck and the skin between her breasts.

She groaned.

In the night, Kylo must have set one of the pelts over her. While it kept her from being cold, it kept her too warm.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Her head pounded at the sudden rush of blood. Lights flashed in her eyes as she adjusted to the campfire's glow. She pulled the pelt around her shoulders, hunching in its warmth.

“What time is it?”

She looked across the clearing, finding her guide seated across from her. Though he blended in with the shadows, he was too big to miss next to the fire’s light.

“Rey?”

He was staring at her, his eyes wide behind the mask. Rey froze in place, watching him in turn.

“Yes?” she replied slowly.

He stared at her for what seemed to be almost a minute. She thought to ask him if she had something on her face before a flurry of blinks brought him back to the present.

“Nothing. Carry on,” he muttered.

Rey shrugged before sipping some water, chasing away the gross feeling in her mouth. Her entire body felt like it was covered in a grime that seeped into her clothing.

The odd incident slipped from her mind as remembrance of where she was and what she was doing settled in again.

“Are we ready to go, or do you need a minute?” Kylo asked.

It was an honest question; Rey was sure of it. Not borne out of condescension, but in respect to her. “A moment, thank you.”

She rolled her shoulders and rolled the pelt onto itself. “You didn't answer my question earlier. Is it midnight?”

“A couple hours after.”

Panic welled up in her chest. “You didn't wake me up?”

He shrugged. “You needed the sleep more than me.”

Kylo stood and held out his gloved hand.

“Come on. Let’s go. We can make up for it later.”

She reached out and took his hand, unwilling to argue. He pulled her to her feet with ease and she hid a furious blush.

They collected their bedding and stamped out the fire, smearing the ashes into the ground.

Rey slammed her staff against the dirt. The barrier fell soundlessly, now that its job was finished.

They started down the path that only Kylo could see. The insects had returned, glowing and flying in the air.

“Do you know ward incantations?” Rey wondered aloud.

There had been no wards around his hut, something she was sure he would need.

“I don’t,” Kylo said. “I was never good at those kinds of spells. I would just scare off or kill whatever wanders too close to me.”

“Sounds like a lot of effort,” Rey mumbled.

“No more than summoning that kind of power.”

“It doesn’t exhaust me,” she insisted. “It’s just one of the things I do well. I would set up time-sensitive and blood-linked wards for shops in town when I was a teenager. I saved the money I earned to travel one day.”

Silence fell before Kylo spoke up. “Where would you go?” he asked.

She blinked. “Go where?”

“Where would you go travelling?”

Rey sagged at the distant want. “To the ocean. My grandfather told me the water is full of magic.”

“I’ve been to the ocean before,” Kylo said softly, as if a long dormant memory had returned to the surface.

Rey gasped, gait quickening in excitement. “Tell me about it, please.”

Kylo sighed. “It was a long time ago.”

“Come on,” Rey sighed. “There has to be something. I’ve read books about it, but I don’t know what it’s like.”

There was a pause. Rey wanted to ask again, but it was clear Kylo was deep in thought.

“You feel small when you’re at the ocean’s edge. The water has more than magic. It’s moving and alive. It’s not like a lake that just sits there. It roars like an animal and moves as if every drop had a mind of its own.”

Her eyes widened, unable to imagine something like it. It was too fantastical. “Really?” she asked.

Kylo nodded. “There are monsters under the surface, too. One time…” he stopped.

“What?”

“I was young and I had wandered off,” Kylo started, only to stop again and shake his head. “I saw something running _on_ the water. It was almost invisible because it was the same color of the water but I could see it.

Then, it stopped, right in the middle of the water. It had a horn coming out its head and fangs and a huge flowing tail.”

“Did it attack you?” she asked.

“No. It just looked at me and then it started running again towards the horizon until I couldn't see it anymore. Nobody believed me when I told them what I saw.”

That made her sad for a reason she couldn't really comprehend. She knew what it was like to feel lonely and misunderstood.

Rey brightened, forcing levity into her voice. “I hope we see something beautiful and fantastical. The forest is cursed, so there’s a chance that something could be hiding here like that.”

Kylo grunted, ducking under a low-hanging branch. “Most things are ugly here, so I doubt it.”

When she thought of ugliness, she thought of Snoke, someone who seemed to follow them, though they couldn't see him. What would it be like to only have a specter and beasts for company for so many years?

“It must’ve been hard living here alone for so long,” Rey murmured.

“I’d be lying if I said it was easy.”

He spoke only of hunger and fighting when he talked about the forest. He didn't talk about the magic that laced every part of the forest bringing him comfort or help. Ten years of nothing but struggles leave him blind to the good things in life.

“What will you do when you leave?” Rey asked.

They were quiet for a long time. Finally, Kylo said, “I would go to the ocean. Now that you mentioned it, I miss the ocean.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted with Chapter 6 on 10/7

The sun set and rose again.

She learned that Kylo was an only child, like her. They made an unspoken decision to not mention their respective parents, at all.

They both liked the color blue. Kylo would copy poems and his favorite lines from books in flowing cursives and blocky calligraphy when he had paper available.

She talked about her potion making and how she met Rose and how Rose immediately decided that the quiet girl who spent her free time levitating rocks in the front garden was going to be her friend.

He didn’t give much indication that he was listening, but Rey continued as if he were paying rapt attention. Then, she would get him to laugh, usually over the stories where she had managed to get herself into a world of trouble, and she couldn’t help but smile stupidly at the raspy, underused sound.

Into the fourth day of travelling, the trees didn’t change much. The density of the underbrush, mostly ferns, waxed and waned like the moon.

“We’ve walked and walked but I haven’t made much sense of the place.”

Kylo mumbled, “It hasn’t chewed you up and spit you out, so count that as a victory. It’s kept just about everyone out of here. As I’ve said, you’re the first person I’ve seen in a decade.”

“The forest wasn’t like this when I first came in, though,” she insisted, “The trees weren’t this tall. It looked like the forests near my town. One moment, it was, the next, it wasn’t.”

“It has powerful magic. Space doesn’t work the same way as it does on the outside.”

Dread settled in her stomach. “So, I might be hundreds of miles from home?”

“I don’t know.”

Obi-Wan's ring had magic as well, just as powerful. Its weight against her chest grounded her. She had faith that it would lead her home, even if it was hundreds and thousands of miles away. She had to believe that, or she might be doomed.

They continued. Despite whatever heat they walked through, Kylo still wore his coat and cloak, all thick black fabric. She shed her cloak and stuffed it into her pack, only taking it out for the evenings.

“You sure you’re not hot?” Rey asked.

“You keep asking me this.”

“I’m just making sure that my guide doesn’t collapse of heat exhaustion.”

“I’m fine.”

“Shedding the cape isn’t going to infringe on your modesty. You’re still wearing a million layers underneath it.”

He glanced at her and she shrugged.

“I’m not going to judge,” she said.

He offered, “I’ll think about it.”

If the request was selfish, she kept it buried. He was her guide and she had to look out for him, for both of their sakes. That was all.

He was kind to her when he didn't need to be and that made her feel fuzzy on the inside. She really didn’t want to think about it longer than she had to. She had her mission, her town’s survival, and everything else should be ancillary.

For a change, Rey walked ahead by half a pace, knowing that Kylo would tell her to turn if she was heading the wrong way, which he did, often.

She stumbled over more roots than she would have if Kylo was leading, but she carried on nonetheless.

“I got this!” she called out when her foot skidded on a damp patch of leaves and sent her stumbling.

“Not sure I believe you, but, okay.”

Rey sighed and continued on, only to freeze.

The trail opened up to a sunny clearing, full of butterflies. They sat on the branches and flowers on the ground and rested on the trees.

“They’re huge.”

The butterflies had wingspans as big as dinner plates. Rey didn't know that it was possible for butterflies to be that big. She stepped further into the light. Her movement didn’t disturb them, but she stayed as still as she could. Kylo stayed back in the shadows, watching.

One took flight and the flapping of its wings sounded more like a bird’s wings.

Rey reached out her hand, finger crooked. She didn't expect much, but she gasped as it landed on her finger, as heavy as it looked.

Slowly, she turned towards Kylo, the butterfly still perched on her hand.

“Kylo, look at it,” she whispered, afraid that her breath would scare it away.

Its wings opened and closed. The scales caught the light and shone like oil over water. There was an eye-shaped pattern on the upper curve of the wing, wide and staring.

She recoiled when the eye blinked at her.

“Careful.”

She looked at Kylo, who stepped into the clearing and swatted his hand at the butterfly, sending it back into the air.

“Those things are spies.”

She watched as the butterfly drifted into the air and out of sight. Its siblings followed, sounding like a flock of birds taking flight, a cloud of shadow and shimmering light moving around them.

“Spies? It’s a butterfly.”

“Snoke is always watching. This forest is his and so are the things living in it.”

“And you?” Rey asked, dreading the answer as soon as the question escaped her mouth. “Are you his?”

Kylo glanced upward, hiding his eyes from her. A shadow cast over where they stood, half a breath before it was gone.

He didn't answer and continued forward.

“Alright,” she breathed.

Her hand tightened around her staff. This all could be a trap. All of the kindness that he showed her could be a front until her guard was fully down and he could offer her up to his master. She had seen Snoke’s power firsthand. He could have Kylo firmly in his influence, using him like a puppet, leading her to the death that Snoke couldn't deal the first time they had met.

Kylo wheeled around to face her, as if he had plucked her thoughts out of the air.

“Everyone and everything in this forest is under Snoke’s influence, Rey, even you. You’re just lucky the trees cursed you and not Snoke himself,” he snapped, eyes flashing.

“I had seen him a few times over the course of a decade, not as a friend.”

“He didn’t curse you?”

“He offered many things, but I refused. It angered him.”

“That’s not an answer,” she whispered.

Kylo growled, “I don’t shed my clothes like you do for a reason, Rey.”

Suddenly, they were dangling on a precipice. Whether this mission would continue hinged on this. Snoke held his influence over them, even when they couldn't see him.

“I want your word, Kylo, that you are my ally. That you won’t betray me.” Rey demanded. Her knuckles hurt from how hard she clutched her staff.

She anticipated an agonizing pause, but the promise came immediately. “You have my word.”

It wasn’t enough. Her stomach still roiled at the thought of sleeping near him while not knowing if he was on her side.

“On your honor,” she said. “On that staff in your hand, that you will not betray my trust.”

She watched his eyes behind the mask, deciphering what she could.

Something soft took hold there. “I pledge on my honor and on the staff in my hand. I will not turn on you. I will not betray you.”

The wind picked up and the flowers whipped and swayed around them. It felt like a seal, like the magic of the forest took that vow and accepted it just as Kylo did.

Rey nodded. That was all she could get, but something tiny and hopeful told her that he was being honest. “I didn't come this far to fail. My family and friends need me. We will do this. Lead the way, Kylo. We don't have time to waste.”

Leading the charge was fun while it lasted, but if they were to anticipate Snoke attacking them, they needed to move faster.

“Okay, Rey.”

She wanted to fight. All she could do was fight.

“We’ll win. I know it.”

Kylo grunted in agreement as he led the way.

* * *

* * *

Rey’s mind had drifted when her foot slipped.

It was day three of little food, water, or sleep.

The weather had taken a turn: the sunny sky turning grey. She couldn’t see as well as she could before.

She fell sideways as they descended a short hill, the ground slick. Her foot turned awkwardly and her ankle buckled underneath her. Her arm shot out and leaned heavily on her right hand. Pain chattered from her fingertips up her arm and she landed on her back.

“Dammit,” she hissed.

“Are you okay?” Kylo called out behind his shoulder before turning around.

She grunted as she peeled off her glove. Her heart dropped at what she saw.

The smooth red wood encased her pinky and the webbing between that finger and her ring finger. From her pinky finger, the wood also spread down the side of her hand. A delicate little leaf sprouted from a tiny branch that poked out from the wood.

Her hand had been irritating her, but she kept it under her glove, relying on her left hand. She could only hide the extent of the damage from herself for so long.

The line between the wood and her skin was red and irritated where they creased together when she fell.

“Do you think this is gonna kill me?” she wondered. “It’s spreading.”

Kylo turned back to look at her hand. “I see it. I don’t know.” Kylo sounded almost sad. Perhaps, he had an idea of what was wrong with her and what the ultimate outcome would be.

“Will leaving the forest stop the spread? I’m okay with having a couple wooden fingers, but I’m not okay with turning into an actual tree.” Being crippled was unavoidable, but she didn't want to die.

Though he didn't audibly sigh, Rey could imagine him rolling his eyes behind the mask.

“Let me see,” he insisted, holding his hand out, “If you’re that concerned about it.”

Rey looked at the gloved hand, hesitating a beat before offering her hand in turn, mumbling, “I’m not _that_ concerned.”

She really was, though she wasn’t going to admit it aloud. The dreams haunted her and something told her that it wasn’t just a panicky fabrication from her stressed mind. It was more like prophecy.

Kylo turned her hand over in his.

“Can you bend your finger?”

She squinted at her hand, willing it to move. Nothing happened, so she shook her head.

“No. I can feel you touching it, but there’s a disconnect.”

His grip tightened for a moment, a full-body wince. “I don’t know. I don’t have a good answer, Rey. I’m sorry.”

She shrugged, squashing that now-familiar feeling of impending doom.

“It’s fine. We’ll just continue. Hopefully I have enough time to save my town.”

Kylo didn't respond, but his hand lingered just for a moment before letting go.

She couldn't think of death yet. Her curse could creep along for weeks. Or accelerate. She wouldn’t know until it actually happened to her.

As if on cue, the overcast sky darkened and a light rain fell from the sky.

“Dammit,” she muttered as she pulled her hood over her head.

“At least it will water your hand.”

While she knew Kylo mean it as a joke, her mouth pulled into a frown. “I guess.”

She held out her hand and let the water drops hit the wood and catch on the waxy leaf. It would’ve been beautiful if it wasn’t a disease that was going to render her hand useless, and maybe even the rest of her body.

“It might be best to let it breathe, instead of keeping it in a glove.”

“Wouldn’t that make it grow faster?”

“It will grow anyway. Trying to smother it could make you sick as well.”

“Because it’s part of me,” she sighed, sadly. Killing it would leave her with a necrotic piece of flesh-not-flesh attached to her body. She would have to amputate it.

She didn't want to think about how this was likely to end. The tree died for her to live for a little longer. It was a life for a life, a perfect trade. Kylo continued on, but his pace slowed enough to keep her close.

She appreciated it, through the sorrowful acceptance-panic that came from looking at the unnatural thing that cleaved itself to her. It sapped her energy.

Frustration took hold and she sighed, tears choking at her. “This came in so fast,” she groaned at the raining sky.

She was cold and wet and afraid of this unknown. If she was going to be afflicted with a curse, she would be preferred to be indoors with a fire and tea and a meat of some kind.

Kylo glanced at her “If it’s any consolation, the rain won’t kill you if you drink it.”

She tilted her head upward and opened her mouth immediately, letting the raindrops wash over her lips and into her mouth.

She was so damn hungry and thirsty. She only had a few mouthfuls of water left in her canteen. Having just a little bit of water was a blessing.

At least, it was for a few minutes. After that, they had to walk in it. A couple hours walking through the rain felt like years. She missed the noontime sun, now that it was gone. It was cold and misty and miserable.

“Do you think it’s time for us to stop for the day?” she asked.

“Can’t see the sun, so I don’t know if it’s noon yet.”

“Yeah,” she breathed. “Maybe another hour and we’ll stop for the day?”

“Sure. This is your quest and you’re the one with the wooden hand. We’ll stop when you want to stop.”

They found another site to sleep.

Rey’s feet had started to drag, so she was grateful for the opportunity to sit down.

“Well, we probably can’t make a fire,” she mumbled. “Everything is wet and won’t burn.”

Kylo stepped into the middle of the clearing and tapped his staff against the ground. The red gem glowed and the rush of magic raised the hairs on her arms. Mist rose off of the fallen leaves and twigs.

“It’s not enough to make a fire, but at least we won’t be sitting on a soaked carpet of leaves.”

She ducked down and ran her fingers over the leaves. They were dry, almost crispy. “Thank you,” she said.

She summoned the wards, the same way she had before. The effort tugged at her bones and made her eyelids droop.

It wouldn’t protect them; she wasn’t strong enough.

Rey started when Kylo was suddenly behind her, reaching out towards her staff, but not quite touching it yet.

“May I?”

She nodded, heart suddenly pounding in her ears. Despite the chill, she felt much too warm.

He wrapped his hand around her staff, underneath where her hand was. A strange invigoration crept from the wood and into her.

“Try again,” he said.

She lifted her right hand and summoned the wards again, the incantation coming out stronger and clearer.

The feeling of security settled over them and the rainfall softened to a light mist.

“Perfect.”

She swayed a little where she stood and went to sit down.

It was routine. She would sit on her blanket and wrap the bear pelt—Kylo finally told her about the demonic bear he killed to obtain it—around her shoulders. He would sit on another bear pelt across from her. All that was missing was the fire.

Kylo cupped his hands and breathed on them. Light collected between his hands.

“Here.”

He tossed it gently towards her. It didn’t fully reach her, but instead, it froze between them. It hovered in the air between them, radiating warmth.

“Oh, it’s like a mini-sun. Lovely.”

She held out her hands toward it. Her wooden skin wouldn’t bend or flex, but it felt a little softer in the heat.

“I think this would be better than fire, anyway. This kind of magic wouldn’t burn my fingers.” Her hands didn’t drop from where they hung in the air, but she regarded the light with sudden nervousness. “Will it attract things to attack us?”

“No more than before.”

Rey shrugged. “I guess you’re right.”

They were quiet for a few minutes and Kylo made no move lie down.

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Rey asked. “You always sleep first.”

“You look like you’re one step away from falling asleep. Then, we would both be asleep at the same time,” he responded.

Barely eating and drinking only sips of water for days would do that to someone. She was honestly surprised that she was doing as well as she was. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

She took the offer. There was little else she could do. All she could do was pull the pelt tight around her and flop onto the ground. Her stomach swooped with an immediate feeling of exhaustion.

“Thank you, Kylo. I really need this,” she whispered. A dumb, grateful smile pulled at her face as her eyes shut. She couldn’t open them again, even if she tried.

“Sleep well, Rey.”

* * *

* * *

Rey dreamt of a woman.

She stood on a huge tree stump, beautiful like a queen in a storybook, with ornaments in her hair. Even her dress had strands of pearls hanging off of it.

The woman smiled down from her perch at Rey, who felt like she should be bowing in reverence, but was frozen in place.

“My daughter,” she greeted with a radiant smile.

Rey reeled back. She knew what her mother looked like. Her mother lacked any of the kindness that seemed to pour from the forest woman. “I don’t understand.”

The smile became sad. “You will. In time, you will understand.”

Her face morphed into a visage of terror.

“Wait, stop!”

Rey couldn’t move or run forward when the woman tipped forward, red blooming across her abdomen. She fell and fell from the tree stump and when her body hit the ground, Rey felt it like a blow to the chest.

She shook awake, suddenly blinded by the warm sphere of light.

“Kylo?”

“I’m here,” came the immediate response.

She sighed, wiping her face of sweat and tears. His voice was a visceral relief. “Bad dream. Really bad dream.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The sudden flood of light had brought flashes behind her eyelids as she blinked. “I saw a beautiful woman,” Rey said. “I watched her die.”

The silence that followed had Rey looking across the clearing. Kylo was very still.

“Do you know something about that? Kylo?”

“Your hand.”

She held her hand up to the glowing light. The scale had gotten bigger, spreading up and around her second finger, inching up the webbing next to her middle finger.

“That’s unfortunate,” she said dryly.

It was all she could say. It was either that or cry.

“We have to keep moving, Rey,” Kylo said, “It’s clear we don’t have a lot of time.”

Rey shook her head. “You didn't get to sleep.”

“It’s already past midnight. We need to start if we are to stay on schedule.”

“You let me sleep through your shift?”

“I don't need it. Come on.”

“You need to sleep,” Rey insisted, not moving to stand.

Why was he suddenly neglecting his need to sleep? She didn't understand.

“I’ll sleep after we’ve walked. Come on.”

He pushed himself to standing and the light retreated inside of him, plunging them back into darkness.

Kylo pulled her to her feet, collecting her things and stuffing them into her pack. She didn't move to help. Instead, she watched him quietly under their staffs’ light.

“You’re raring to go,” she murmured.

She gently picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

“I have to be. Your hand is only going to get worse.”

With that, they started walking again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and chapter 9 were posted 10/11!  
Enjoy!

Gloom settled over both of them.

Rey was torn between wanting to avoid looking at her hand at all costs and watching it for any minute change.

Her right hand was her dominant hand, so have two non-functional fingers made simple acts like carrying her staff an ordeal. She resigned herself to using her left hand for most things.

Kylo was worried and that made it real. If he knew curses, then he would know how her particular story was likely to end.

She held her hand up towards the glowing moths and flies. The pretty lights caught the red wood, shining mockingly at her.

“I have an uncle named Chewie.”

Rey blinked owlishly at Kylo. “You have a what?” she asked.

“My uncle Chewie, my father’s business associate.”

An obvious attempt to cheer her up, but she accepted it. “Why is he named Chewie? Did he have magic too?”

“I don’t know. There was definitely something not human about him but I never had the courage to ask.”

“I suppose it would be rude to demand what kind of creature a person is.”

Kylo scoffed. “Yeah, who would do something like that?”

Rey grinned sheepishly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said innocently. Her hand had dropped to her side, momentarily forgotten.

Now that she looked, there were more signs of life that she had realized. Fluffy bits of feathers caught in the leaf litter and on the low-hanging branches, though the birds were heard, never seen. Ants crawled in trails over the trees.

The faint breeze tugged at her, bringing that sensation of being surrounded by magic. It still felt like it was any moment that they were going to be attacked. It wasn’t a consistent comfort or a consistent danger.

Her stomach growled and pinched in hunger. Their dinner had staved off the feeling for a little while, but it had returned with a vengeance.

Kylo was better at foraging than she, but it was clear that he was having a hard time finding things to eat. He was just as hungry and hollowed out as she was, but he was used to it.

“Did your uncle carry you on his shoulders?” Rey asked.

“Of course. He was strong.”

She smiled to herself. “My grandfather would sometimes carry me like that, but he had back problems, so it was a rare treat when I was little.”

Kylo’s foot slammed against a rock and he hissed, effectively ending that conversation.

They had a long way to go, that much was clear. The forest remained filled with tall redwoods and ferns, cool and wet except for the noontime hours.

“We’re gonna be in this kind of forest for a while,” Rey mused. “I don’t mind it, though. The trees are pretty.”

“They hold a lot of magic. I’ve found that they have a mind of their own.”

“It was a redwood that took the curse that was supposed to kill me,” she murmured. “And it was the redwoods that cursed me like this.”

The trees showed their favor and turned on her in one fell swoop.

“There may be something beyond the source of the curse. A rainforest, maybe.”

“We will find Snoke and the source of the curse before that, right?” she asked.

Kylo hesitated before speaking again. “Of course. We would have to walk past the source to find a rainforest.”

“Hopefully not. We’d boil and smell rotten, if what I’ve heard of rainforests is right.”

“Didn’t think to bring soap with you?”

He clearly meant it as a joke, but she blushed as she knew the what lay in her bag. “I did, a tiny bar, but I was expecting more sources of water that wouldn’t poison me.”

It had been nearly a week at that point since she left home and she felt every one of those days. Feeling dirty wasn’t as bad as being hungry and thirsty and afraid, but it definitely didn’t help anything.

“We’re bound to find something soon,” Kylo mumbled.

“Good, because I would rather not die of thirst.”

“You’re not gonna—.”

Kylo froze, head tilting to the side, as the dawn sun rose in the distance. He grabbed her sleeve and pulled at her. “Dammit, I hoped we wouldn’t come across the wasps.”

“The what?” Rey gasped.

“Drop, now!”

Rey threw herself on the ground. She felt Kylo grab her hood and pull it over her head as he dropped next to her. They were deathly quiet, not even the birds chirping, and Rey didn't understand why until she heard the high-pitched whining.

“Stay down until I tell you,” Kylo hissed. “Keep your skin covered.

Rey pressed her face against the ground, covering her mouth.

Then, the buzzing was on top of them. It was a swarm flying over and around them. If Kylo didn't simply cast a spell, there was something different about the wasps that found them.

She closed her eyes as her skin crawled at the thought of being covered by wasps and being stung over and over. Her breath shuddered in fear as the buzzing reached a fever-pitch, drowning out the heartbeat in her ears. She was sure that they were going to be consumed by the swarm.

It seemed to take an eternity before finally the buzzing was reduced to nothing.

Neither of them dared to move until Kylo shifted next to her.

“We're safe. Come on, Rey.”

She pushed herself to her knees, grunting. “What the hell was that?”

“Wasps. Cursed wasps. Come on, we need to make a detour.”

They turned to the north, walking for about 10 minutes before turning west again. The entire time, they were quiet, listening for the wasps to return again.

Rey could sense the hive when they passed it. Though it was far away, it was a writhing mass of poison.

Her dreams were going to be plagued by that noise; she knew it. It would add to the list of things that haunted her since she stepped into the forest.

“You’ve seen those before? The wasps?”

“Yes. They don’t sting if you don’t show any skin. Once one stings, they all attack. And then, you’re as good as dead.”

She had been stung by bees and wasps before, but she knew that a sting from those wasps would be an unimaginable pain.

“I don’t like wasps,” she mumbled.

“I don’t think anyone does. We can’t even eat them,” Kylo said. “I would burn the hive, but it would only make them attack and they won’t care if I’m wearing clothes.”

“They’d go for your eyes,” she mused, shuddering at the thought. “Could you imagine, wandering around blind?”

Kylo was silent, perhaps imagining an existence where he couldn't see the sky.

“I would miss looking,” she continued, only to stop as bright color caught her eye. “Looking at those berries.”

She pointed at the bush in disbelief. “Maybe we can eat those?” she asked.

Kylo's gaze followed her finger and he grunted dismissively.

“Dunno.”

It wasn’t the first time they had come across bushes full of berries, but they were all holly and nightshade and poisonous things that neither of them had names for.

“Please, humor me.”

She strayed from the path, still listening for wasps. It took a moment before Kylo started to follow her.

They always had to be careful, though there were always hints to if they could eat fruit.

Before, the bushes had been surrounded by an aura of death. The hapless animals that had thought that the new kind of berries were safe often died where they stood. Their spirits lingered faintly, enough for someone who was looking to sense it.

This particular bush didn't have that same shadow.

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Rey mumbled aloud.

“That it doesn’t smell like death? Sure.”

It wasn’t a high bar to clear.

She switched her staff to her right hand, though it dangled awkwardly where her two fingers couldn't curl around it.

With her free hand, she plucked one berry off of the bush. It looked like it was halfway between a raspberry and a cherry, not quite smooth. It was the kind that would leave pieces in one’s teeth after eating.

“I tested the last one, so it’s your turn,” Kylo said.

Rey shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Juggling her staff with her free hand and secretly giving thanks that Kylo saved her pride by not assisting her, she rested the gem in the pulp.

The spell Kylo had used—and she had committed to memory—was cobbled together from a dozen magic traditions. He swore by it and she had to trust that it would ring true in her mouth.

In response to the words, the light brightened and faded to its normal intensity. The staff didn't sting in warning of poison.

“Do you want to get a second opinion?” she asked, gesturing at Kylo’s staff.

“No. I trust your judgment.”

The staff hadn’t failed her yet.

She had gone into the caves in the north with Obi-Wan, looking for gems that could channel her power. It had taken days before she could one that resonated with her. That had been the easy part.

The hard part was cleaving the gem to the wood and metal of the staff, getting them to harmonize into a single entity. She tried so many times that the strain almost split the wood and left her drained and exhausted by the time she crawled into bed, day after day.

After a long time, it had worked. The staff was too big for her at the time, but she grew into it.

Snapping back to the present, Rey ate the pulp in her hand and made a face.

“They don’t taste that great,” she said.

Bitter like it was meant to be baked with a ton of sugar and a creative blend of spices, not bitter like poison.

She glanced up just as Kylo’s eyes jerked towards the bush. He gingerly plucked up a couple berries.

Rey politely averted her eyes as Kylo shifted his mask carefully to eat some of the berries.

While part of her was sad that he hid himself, she could understand. She wouldn’t exactly advertise the fact that her hand was more tree than flesh to anyone. Whatever he hid was his business.

“Yeah. Better than nothing,” he grumbled.

“Better than nothing,” Rey agreed.

They allowed themselves to be greedy for a moment, eating handful after handful of the berries until they had to stop.

She made a face and laughed, “These really do have a foul aftertaste.” She wished she had a sprig of mint to chew on.

“We’ll save some for later,” Kylo said before starting to collect berries into one of the empty cloth bags.

Rey went to clean off the gem of berry flecks and dirt on her cloak when Kylo said, “Wait.”

She stopped and looked to Kylo in question, letting her staff hang in the air for a moment.

“It’ll stain,” Kylo said.

She glanced down at gem and the potential mess it would’ve left on her cloak. “You’re right,” she murmured.

Kylo reached a hand towards her sleeve and dropped it before he could touch the edge of it. “It was woven with a very delicate kind of magic. We can’t stop it from being covered in dirt, but its best to keep it undisturbed.” 

“Magic? My grandmother made it and she didn't have magic.” Rey asked disbelievingly.

She hazily remembered Satine carefully embroidering the fabric with blue thread, the cloak sized for an adult, not a small child. Satine would tut softly when Obi-Wan asked why not make a cloak for a little girl.

_‘She will grow into it, my dear.’_

And grow she did and the cloak was a perfect fit.

“It doesn’t confer warmth or shielding from weapons. It’s luck,” Kylo stated, matter-of-fact. “It was made with such care that I don’t think she had meant to or even realized what had happened.”

Rey blinked. “You can tell?”

“You radiate magic, Rey, but the cloak is a different kind of magic.”

How he had been able to tell, she had no idea. Perhaps he watched her sleep and could see the tiny nuances.

The thought made her smile.

“I see your magic too. It’s strong, something I’ve never seen before.”

He was darkness and light magic, in a strange dance, not quite in harmony. If he wasn’t a hermit in a forest, she would’ve expected him to be a renowned teacher or a famed maker of spells.

Kylo cleared his throat and shifted on his feet.

“Well, now that we have accepted that we are both strong with magic, let’s get moving before it’s time for us to make camp for the night.”

* * *

* * *

Rey snapped awake to the sound of Kylo’s incoherent yelling.

He seemed to take up so much space in the clearing as he stumbled around, swinging his staff around as if to hit an invisible foe.

“Kylo?” Rey called out, scrambling to her feet.

He didn't indicate that he had heard her.

Rey gave him a wide berth, looking for a reason why he was suddenly on the offensive.

“I’ll kill you,” he murmured just loud enough to hear. “I’ll kill you.”

He faced out towards the night, but she couldn't see anything.

Taking advantage of the pause in movement, “Kylo, there’s nothing there. Kylo!”

Kylo turned towards her, but he didn't see her. His eyes were glassy behind the mask, pupils so wide that she couldn’t see any color.

He growled and for a moment Rey wondered if her travel companion was more monster than he let on.

“Get back.”

He swung his staff again and she jumped back to avoid it before lunging forward. Rey grabbed onto his arm and the world spun under her feet.

The clearing opened up and a full moon shone feverishly bright overhead. Then, there was the fire. Torches cast ominous shadows across the ground, resembling a terrible ritual from an occult book.

Kylo stood in the clearing, his staff in one hand and a curved dagger in the other.

Rey stood by his side in wide-eyed shock, taking in the sight of this vivid dream. She clutched white-knuckled at his sleeve.

“Kylo!” she yelled.

For a moment, the clearing was empty and then shadows grew out of the ground.

The warriors were red as blood. Their forms dripped and wavered, brandishing metal weapons.

Beyond them, she saw Snoke, who watched the melee with a gleeful grin. A figure lay at his feet, motionless.

“Come along, young Solo,” Snoke crowed. “You have to earn it.”

The figures charged at him and bursts of fire and sparks of electricity flew at the air. One fireball connected with Kylo’s arm and singed cloth and skin. She could feel and smell it as if it had burned her.

Kylo howled in pain before lashing out at the warrior and she lost her grip on him.

Reality slammed back into view; the fiery battling cleared from her eyes. All that remained was that tiny clearing with a distressed Kylo and her heart pounding in her ears.

Fear clutched at her chest: fear for her and Kylo’s safety, not of the vision. The vision wasn’t real. Kylo was real and he was in trouble.

He moved so erratically that he was one step away from stepping into the fire. He could lash out and break the barrier, leaving them exposed to beasts that would take advantage of the distraction. He could even strike her, kill her by accident.

“Hey! Knock it off!” she shouted. “Kylo? Kylo!”

He was fully fighting the warriors he had seen in his vision. His empty hand clenched at open air, mimicking the dagger he held in the vision.

She pushed her hand towards his face, bright light flashing into his eyes.

He shoved her away with a yell and his staff clattered to the ground as he covered his eyes.

Rey lost her balance and slammed down onto her backside. She yelped as pain shot up her spine at the impact.

Kylo’s body shuddered to a stop. He hadn’t been sleeping but it looked like he had been dropped into a nightmare. His chest heaved as his head twitched, trying to regain control.

She held her right hand close to her body and watched him carefully.

“Rey?” he called out.

He hadn’t seen her from where she was on the ground. Maybe he was still blinded by his vision, still reconciling what was real and what wasn’t.

“Kylo, I’m here,” she said, gentle, like how one would approach a wounded animal.

Kylo’s head jerked towards her. His eyes were clear and bright as they reflected the light of the dying fire.

“I—” he started. “I’m sorry.”

He stumbled towards her with an unsteady gait. Rey winced, remembering the erratic movements he had been making moments earlier. While the light had returned to Kylo’s eyes, she couldn't be sure that the vision wouldn’t return and he wasn’t going to lash out again.

He froze, shrinking away from her in turn.

“You’re hurt,” he breathed.

Rey shrugged. “It’s just a scratch.”

He made a small noise of displeasure before he slowly approached. Suddenly the roles were reversed: he approaching her like she was going to turn and flee.

“I have to fix it,” he said before kneeling down next to her.

Kylo reached out towards her, palms spread, but he stalled before his hands were over her.

“Please?”

Rey looked though the holes in his mask and saw eyes pinched in distress. Most of it had to be from the traumatic vision, but some of it had to be reserved for her, right?

“Okay.”

He inched forward again, kneeling next to her.

“I know the spells. It will help,” he mumbled, as if he was assuring himself as much as he was assuring her.

He held his hands over her, not quite touching her. His eyes flickered closed as the healing spell rumbled through the air.

His staff glowed softly where it rested on the floor, but the power was all from Kylo.

Healing magic was pure, from the kind that healed paper cuts to the kind that mended near-fatal wounds. It was a beautiful sort of music. It evoked a devoted nurse caring for their patient.

Hearing the words come from Kylo only made it sweeter.

The icy-hot sensation danced down her spine and the sharp shock from her fall melted. Bruises that had yet to form were assuaged and split skin was mended.

More than that, she felt the knots and tension in her back, starting from her tailbone and up to the base of her neck. They slowly came loose in a series of soft pops.

She moaned in relief before realizing where she was and who she was with.

“You’re good at that,” she mumbled, cheeks aflame.

He dropped to sit next to her. He kicked some tinder into the dying campfire and sent embers into the air.

Silence reigned as they both calmed down from what had just occurred.

“What was that?” Rey asked.

“I thought I saw something.”

Rey had to bite back a laugh at the obvious lie. If he had been staring past the barrier, frozen in place and huffing like a guard dog, she would’ve believed him. There was no fooling her when it came to what had just occurred.

“It was more than something, Kylo. I saw what you saw.”

Kylo was very still, caught in the lie.

“There’s something you aren’t telling me,” Rey pressed. “Tell me. Maybe I can help.”

She said that, but she wasn’t entirely sure how she could help at that moment. She knew how to brew potions that could alleviate nightmares and hallucinations, but those were far away. Aside from basic calming herbs, there was little she could do.

Spells that intervened with the mind were only used by those specially practiced and under carefully controlled conditions. Those weren’t on hand either.

Kylo sighed, resigning himself. “The forest brings visions. Some of it is just your memories. Others, they’re fabrications.”

“And that?”

“A little of both.”

“You were hallucinating,” she said gently. “It’s not your fault.”

He shook his head. “No, I should’ve controlled it. I should’ve known it wasn’t real. Instead, I hurt you.”

She reached out and covered his hand with hers, returning just a little of that healing magic to him. He jerked as if she had poked him with a needle, but he didn't pull away.

“It’s okay,” she insisted.

They both had seen things in their time in the forest. Rey couldn't blame him for that.

“My first day in the forest, I saw myself floating dead in a pond.”

Her mouth twisted at the memory. It was all so far away, back when the forest looked like home. Now, it felt like all she knew were of ferns and towering redwoods.

Kylo made a sound in the back of his throat. “That’s grotesque.”

“It was. For a moment, I thought it was real.”

His gaze flickered, eyes open and shut, before he turned his attention back to her.

“Kylo, how much sleep have you been getting?”

He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Rey was sure that under that mask she would find deep shadows and sallow skin.

“You’ve been going on with so little sleep. No doubt the forest preys on weakened minds. You need to sleep.”

“You didn't get much chance to sleep either. I woke you up.”

She was able to sleep, though for only a few hours. She couldn’t complain about that. Despite that, she knew she wouldn’t be able to win an argument with Kylo over who more deserves to sleep unless she physically knocked him out.

“We’ll have a day of rest. After that, we’ll start at midnight again.”

Really, they had been going at it for so long with little rest. Though Rey hadn’t experienced the vision firsthand, they were both worn down.

It would only be a matter of time before she was plagued like Kylo. She now knew what to look for.

She had to be strong.

Rey stood and sat back on her blanket. She dusted off the pelt she had thrown off her body when Kylo had startled her awake.

“Rey?” Kylo said quietly.

Rey looked up. “Hm?”

“Could you sleep near me?”

She couldn't help her eyebrows shooting toward her hairline in shock. Her heart skipped a beat, for a reason that wasn’t life-or-death for once.

“It’ll help me sleep,” Kylo mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

If it was going to help him sleep, then, she had to, didn't she? There would be no other reason why she would agree to sleep so close to him.

“Okay.”

She collected her blanket and pelt and crawled between the space between the two of them.

Leaving a foot of space between them—she had to give herself that—she spread out her blanket next to where Kylo had prepared for sleep.

“Is that good?”

“Yes.”

She laid down, turning so her back was to Kylo. A rustle of fabric told her he had done the same.

“Good night, Kylo,” she murmured.

“Good night.”

She touched her staff and felt the hum of the wards protecting them.

“Don’t worry, Rey.”

She tucked her hand back close to her body. He was right. They would be fine. The wards held, night after night. That night would be no different.

She closed her eyes and dreamt of a roaring ocean. Her feet sunk into the sand and the waves lapped at her ankles. Not her ankles. These were too pale, too thin.

Someone called out behind her, the waves garbling any words. She turned to see a beautiful brunette woman strolling towards her. Her pale blue dress and large sunhat waved in the wind.

“Mom!” her mouth greeted, the words not her own. Even in the dream, Rey knew that this woman wasn’t her mother. The woman smiled, all love and sunshine. Rey’s mother never smiled at her like that, not even when she was a small child.

She reached out and pinched Rey’s cheek.

“Never turn your back to the ocean, my star,” she said. “It has a way of sneaking up on you.”

Rey reached out, her arm small like a child’s. The woman took her hand and led her forward, away from the water.

“Come on. Don’t tell your father, but we have cookies.”

The rush of childish excitement shocked her awake, keeping her blessedly buoyant before the gnawing hunger and the stone digging into her back brought her back to reality. Dawn light crept through the treetops.

She rolled over to see Kylo resting on his back. His mask was slightly askew, revealing the edge of his slack jaw.

He snored quietly, his breath slow and rhythmic. It brought a smile to her face.

She could only hope that his dreams were happy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and chapter 8 were posted on 10/11!  
Enjoy!

“Now I’m understanding that phrase about learning how sausage is made.”

Kylo sighed, still digging through the dirt at the base of one of the trees. “Please don’t talk about sausage while I’m digging up roots. I’d rather not think about meat when there’s none around.”

They had a very simple system: Kylo dug up roots out of the ground and handed them to Rey for her to clean. It was the digging part that had her wrinkling her nose in disgust.

While she couldn't be choosy about her food, she allowed herself to be judgmental over what Kylo insisted was worthwhile.

She dusted off the dirt as much as she could with her pant leg. No water could be wasted on cleaning their dinner. They had been reduced to collecting rainwater, the only thing that was keeping them from dying of thirst.

“Is there anything that we have to do to prepare them?” Rey wondered, eyeing the growing pile of brown-grey roots.

“I’ll shave off the skin and boil them until they’re soft. Then, I'll smash them into a paste and that’ll be it.”

It sounded just as unappetizing as would actually eating it.

“Okay.”

It was a day of rest, but they still made a little progress forward until they found another clearing to camp.

Rey huddled near the fire as Kylo set the pot on it. The evening chill set in quickly.

“What happens if it burns?” Rey asked, staring into pot with concern.

“We'll eat the burnt parts. But I won’t burn it.”

The sun had almost completely set by the time the roots were soft enough for Kylo’s taste. He crushed them with the bottom of the ladle into paste.

“Wait.”

She took out the bag of berries and shook out the remaining few into the pot. They had started to get soft and overripe and soon were to go to waste.

“There. Mush them in.”

Kylo glanced at her, eyes giving nothing away, before obeying.

The purple mixed with brown looked even less appetizing than it did before. She immediately regretted her choice. She could only imagine the grin that Kylo hid under his mask.

“Well, it was your idea. You get to try it first.”

Rey glanced at him in disbelief before taking the ladle from his hand. She scooped up a small portion and brought it to her lips.

She dumped the spoonful into her mouth. The texture was mealy and the flavor of bitter and dirt was overwhelming. She gagged, but forced herself to swallow.

“It’s good,” she wheezed, eyes watering.

Kylo shook his head in obvious amusement. “It’s more food and more energy. You can have your half and I’ll have mine.”

She grumbled about poor recipes and dumb forests as she carefully spooned half of the portion. After the first bite, it still tasted horrible but it didn't make her stomach roil.

Kylo took the spoon from her and moved his mask up from over his mouth. Rey averted her eyes. He didn't outright hide the action from her, but something told her that it would be better if she didn't look.

The irrational part of her also craved the mystery of catching just tiny snatches of his face.

“Remind me to never, ever let you do the cooking,” he grunted.

Rey wasn’t going to argue with him on that.

* * *

* * *

Something was definitely wrong.

While she had felt a bit ill the night before from their meal, nothing was out of the ordinary.

Kylo led her through the forest, as usual. Conversation came in fits and bursts, as usual.

But something felt off about the path they took.

They were treading on toxic ground. The feeling of being surrounded by magic didn't change, but there was something ugly about it.

“Are we getting close?” Rey asked.

A piercing scream made her jolt in shock as Kylo froze next to her.

It echoed loudly and then the screaming started again. It wasn’t an echo, but something very present. It was the sound of straining and screaming.

“That sounds like...” Rey murmured.

She was no midwife, not anything close to a nurse, but she knew what a woman in labor sounded like. Years of running at Obi-Wan’s heels, watching him tend to difficult births with salves and old magic, imprinted the sound in her mind.

Concern tugged at her, pulling her forward.

“Rey, no,” Kylo warned.

She started walking towards the sound, pushing through the underbrush.

“Rey, wait.”

Kylo reached out towards her, fingers brushing her shoulder.

She pulled away and started running as the screaming got louder and more pained.

“Rey!” Kylo yelled after her.

Distantly, she could hear him tear through the forest after her.

“Rey, wait up!”

She stumbled when the ground shifted underneath her feet. The ground had raised and suddenly dropped and she ran headlong, almost breaking her ankle.

The sunlight blinded her for a moment until the scene became clear.

She stopped.

“Rey!” Kylo said, coming down that same hill and almost crashing into her.

He stopped, mere inches from her back.

“Kylo?” she breathed.

His breath caught. “I see it too.”

Across the clearing was the woman she had seen in her dreams, the queen who sat on a throne only to be struck down by an invisible force. She wore a white dress with intricate lace and the fabric spilled into the dirt.

“My children,” the woman greeted, “Rey and…_Kylo_.”

Rey stiffened, painfully aware of the magic that blanketed the clearing. This was wrong, unnatural. “How do you know my name?”

The woman stepped forward. “The trees have blessed you and cursed you, Rey. They whisper your name to me.”

“Who are you?” Rey asked, stepping back.

“Only the trees, my sisters, remember my name.” The woman had a dreamy expression, as if remembering good times long past. “Padmé.”

Kylo shifted in the corner of her eye, a tiny noise escaping his mouth.

Rey thought to look, but Padmé held out her hands, offering an embrace. “Oh, look at you. My daughter, so cruelly abandoned.”

A chill clutched Rey’s heart, grinding her teeth. “How do you know about that?”

“I see many things, daughter. I know when I see a child so desperate to be loved.”

The words cut to the core, a crippling blow.

Her parents should’ve loved her enough to stay. She knew the truth. They were dead, their last thoughts on the drugs in their veins and not on their child.

She hated them. Why did she still miss them? Why wasn’t Obi-Wan’s love enough?

Padme sighed, “Heaven knows I’ve tried to get young Kylo to come with me. You don’t have to wallow with him, my daughter.”

“I’m not your daughter,” Rey snapped.

Her parents were gone. This _shadow_ would give her nothing.

The benevolent smile dipped at the corners, wavering. “You aren’t?”

“Neither of us are your children.”

Rey glanced at Kylo, who stared steadfastly at the woman. It barely looked like he was breathing.

She turned back to Padmé.

Her maternal visage shattered with a wild howl. “My babies. I left my babies,” Padmé moaned. She yanked at her hair. “There was nothing that I loved more than my children. I was ripped from them.”

Rey could only stand as a pressure closed down over the top of her head. Chill clung to her fingertips. Kylo still didn't move.

Padmé wiped her eyes and her expression shifted to a wild kind of cruelty. “Ah, the bride, so full of life and beauty,” she said, gesturing to Rey.

Teeth bared in a snarl, she continued, “Only to be slaughtered by the groom out of pure selfishness.” She gestured to Kylo, who made another choked noise.

Padmé kicked at the ground and it was then Rey realized she was barefoot.

“Pity,” she sighed. “I would’ve liked to see how your story ends. What a tale it would have been.”

The trees shook and rattled, though Rey couldn’t feel any wind. Blood rained down from the branches, warm as if freshly spilt.

Kylo shook to life before she could scream.

“Rey, close your eyes,” he ordered.

She obeyed. She clapped her hands over her ears when the sound of skin ripping cut through the air.

A sigh, a death rattle, echoed like an explosion.

Kylo grabbed her wrist and carefully pulled her hand away from her ear.

“It’s okay. She’s gone,” Kylo murmured.

She opened her eyes and moved her hands to see the clearing was empty. There was no blood on the ground. The leaves Padmé had kicked looked like they hadn’t been disturbed at all.

“Who was that?”

Kylo’s gaze tilted towards the ground. His hand still lingered at her wrist, but neither of them pulled away just yet.

“Just a ghost.”

* * *

* * *

Rey didn't know what Kylo did to make the woman go away, but she didn't dare ask. He was silent and pensive, not even looking at her unless he needed to.

She didn't know what Padmé was: spirit or ghost or fairy, or something in between. She didn't want to think about it too hard.

Instead she worried at her wooden fingers. It had started to spread to her pointer finger and creep down her palm.

The wood was smooth and shiny and supple in a weird way. She still couldn't bend them, but they didn't snap if she put any weight on them.

There weren’t any dried flakes for her to pick off, only creases to rub her thumb against. It would be beautiful if it wasn’t crippling her.

She brought up the wood to her lips and touched her tongue to it. She wrinkled her nose. There was no taste of skin or sweat, which she suddenly missed.

She didn't even feel the sensation of her tongue touching what was now her skin. She supposed trees had a different way of sensing things than humans did, but vividly knowing that difference firsthand was an odd sort of honor.

The tiny leaf that sprouted from her pinky finger twitched in the breeze.

She secretly hoped that flowers would grow. She was lucky that the wood was nice to look at, but it wasn’t enough. Rey wasn’t a vain person, but flowers could take the edge off of her desire to lop off her hand.

With her luck, she wouldn’t get roses or lilies or tiny daisies, but she would take what she could get.

“She said her sisters were the trees. What does she mean by that?” Rey wondered.

Kylo sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Are we getting any closer to Snoke? Was she a sign that we’re close?” Rey asked.

“No,” Kylo said after a long pause. “We still have a long way to go.”

She knew she shouldn’t be pushy, though every moment was agony, like she was one step closer to finding her town in ruins.

“When we’re close to Snoke, you’ll know it.”

Rey wasn’t too sure about that. The entire forest was muddied. Running into Padmé, that ghost, only seemed to confirm that they were in a fog with no direction.

She could only trust that Kylo’s tracking was as good as he insisted it was.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and chapter 11 were posted 10/18!  
Updating only on Fridays from here on out!  
Enjoy :3

They both stopped at the sound of running water, louder than any stream they had come across.

“Want to check that out?” Kylo asked before she could.

Though the possibility of it being a trick was there, they were so thirsty. Even swallowing was a foul task.

“Yes,” she rasped.

Their pace quickened as they followed the sound. The trees thinned out and the soft brown earth turned to rock. Finally, the source of the noise was revealed. Water roared through the grey fissure in the earth, clear blue with white foam.

“Look at it,” Rey breathed. She knelt by the edge, hands shaking in anticipation. Where it was still, the water was crystal-clear and she wanted to submerge her face into it. Rationality made her pause.

She glanced at Kylo before running the gem over the water’s surface. The gem’s color stayed the same blue, no hum of energy in response. “It’s safe.”

He nodded. “Yes. We should fill our canteens as well, while we have the chance.”

He ducked down, once again pushing his mask up so the bottom half of his face was revealed. His hands cupped into the water and brought them up to his waiting mouth. She knew she should mind his privacy and not look at what little parts of his face he revealed. Drops dribbled down his chin and Rey’s head jerked back towards the river, feeling oddly like a voyeur.

She followed his lead, collecting the water in her hands before breathing on it, purifying it. Some of it trickled between her fingers, her wooden fingers preventing a perfect seal.

The water was ice-cold, a shock right down to her bones.

“It’s perfect,” she murmured.

Rey cupped more water and tossed it into her face. Now that she could wash her face, she realized how greasy and gross the rest of her body felt.

“This river is probably the best we’re going to find,” she said. “We should take this opportunity to bathe. It’s not quite noon yet, so we can stop for the day and dry off in the sun.”

Kylo glanced at her before nodding.

“It’ll be nice to bathe,” he agreed. “Ladies first.”

She froze as she remembered where she was. Though the water wasn’t poison, that didn't mean that there wasn’t something utterly unnatural in the water.

“You said that there were beasts in the water,” she mumbled.

Kylo sighed. “I said in the ocean.”

“Point still stands,” Rey insisted. “This river probably feeds into an ocean. You stand guard.”

“Shall I keep my back turned?”

Rey did her best not to blush at the thought and instead busied herself with shedding her cloak. She really was in for it. “Yes. And listen out if suddenly you can’t hear me or you hear a bunch of splashing.”

She dug through her bag and pulled out a tiny wrapped bundle of soap.

“So, you actually brought soap?” Kylo asked.

She broke off a piece and handed the rest to him. “It’s lavender,” she said lamely.

Kylo grunted as he took the soap and turned his back to the water. She took that as her cue to step closer to the river.

She set her cloak on the ground and the rest of her clothing followed. Getting her clothes off was more of a chore with her hand. Three nonfunctional fingers meant that all of the work was done by her left hand. The thought of asking Kylo to help crossed her mind, but immediately she knew that finding the courage to ask was a near-impossibility.

Getting her clothes back _on_ was going to be more difficult. She figured her right thumb and pointer finger would adequately assist her left hand.

“Getting in the water now,” she called out.

“Okay.”

Her body immediately locked up when she dunked her feet into the water, the chill creeping up her spine. It was no tub of hot water, but it would be something.

As she stepped further, she felt the icy water all the way down into her joints. Her teeth chattered. Her skin felt tight and prickly. The water was still with the except of tiny ripples, nothing moving around her. She bounced back a little, trying to inch a little deeper into the water. Rey’s foot slipped on the rock she was standing on.

She hissed a curse; her elbow slapped against the water as she regained her footing.

“I slipped. I’m good,” she called out.

She glanced back only to see Kylo finish whipping around to look at her. They locked eyes and Rey didn't move to cover herself. Instead, she stared at him, steadfast, feeling entirely comfortable and exposed at the same time.

His whole body shuddered in a breath as he seemed to remember himself and he turned his back to her.

She shivered, not just because of the cold. Rey could only wish that she could see his face and what his reaction was.

She scrubbed the soap into her skin and hair, chasing that errant thought from her mind. She bent her legs, lowering herself neck-deep into the water for as long as she could bear before lifting up again, repeating until the suds washed away and took the dirt and sweat with it.

She leaned back and dipped her hair into the water. The soap and dirt sloughed off but the cold water left a tightness in her scalp that was decidedly unpleasant. Everything was borne out of necessity, not pleasure. She wrung out as much water from her hair as possible, looking forward to dying in the sun.

“Getting out now,” she called out, voice shaking from the chill.

“Okay,” came the clipped answer.

The air against her wet skin raised goosebumps along her entire body as she dried off and changed into spare clothes and wrapped her cloak around her shoulders. Now that she was out of the water and the patches of noontime sun shone on her, she felt renewed. Cold, but cleansed.

She left her socks and shoes on the ground and she padded over to Kylo.

“Your turn,” she chirped with false levity.

Kylo passed her without a word. His posture was stiff.

She wondered if he was still uncomfortable after looking at her bathing. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t know how much skin he had seen, besides her naked back. Hopefully, it was so little and inconsequential that it wasn’t even worth bringing up.

The rustle of clothing being shed made her blush, despite herself. It felt strangely intimate, now that she thought about it, though they were several feet apart and her back was steadfastly turned away from him.

“Getting in the water,” Kylo said.

“Alright.”

The quiet rippling of water as he stepped in sounded so much louder than when she stepped into the water.

Rey crossed her arms and stomped in place, trying to warm herself.

She wanted to glance back. He had seen her, so it was only fair that she could see him. Her heart suddenly raced at the idea.

She turned as slowly and quietly as possible, eyes drawing over the surface of the water to find Kylo’s back turned to her.

He had gone further into the water than she had, enough that it came up to his waist, delicate bubbles floating on the water’s surface.

A swath of grey skin laced with angry red marred the plane of his back, wrapping up his shoulder. She couldn't see where it led, or even if it was a tattoo or a scar.

She turned back around, tears burning at her eyes.

It wasn’t pity. He would’ve rejected the pity anyway. The rushing sound of water moving made her glance back. She saw a pale foot leave the water and she turned back.

She didn't see anything. She saw a pale blur in the corner of her eye but that was it. Her mind could fill in the blanks.

“Quit peeking,” Kylo mumbled.

The words barely carried, more embarrassed than angry, and Rey immediately was remorseful.

“Sorry.”

She studiously ignored the sounds of him pulling his clothes back on. When she looked back, she saw that he had a dingy undershirt balled up in his hands.

“Your clothes still fit you after a decade,” she deadpanned, trying to cut through the mood that they both unintentionally created.

“I know how to sew and I know magic. I managed.”

She hummed, forcing cheer into the note before she traced the barrier for their campsite.

“Have you seen this river before?” Rey asked.

Kylo held his hands over the fire. “Years ago, but I was driven away from it. I couldn't find it again. I don't know where it starts or ends.”

She could imagine that it stretched from one end of the forest to the other. “Do you know what’s on the other side?”

“I’ve never crossed over the river. I don’t know what’s on the other side.”

For all they knew, a bed and breakfast with perfectly normal innkeepers and a hot meal was just beyond the river. The curse could end where the shore began.

“Have you tried to leave?” Rey asked.

Kylo stared into the fire. “No.”

“Not even once?”

He paused, head tilting down just a touch. “Once. When I became very afraid and I thought I would be destroyed by my fear, I ran to where I thought I would be able to escape.”

“But, you didn’t.”

“I got close. If I had run for another mile, I would have reached the forest’s edge. I had sensed it.”

“You stopped?”

“I stopped. Snoke sent horrible visions to stop me from leaving. I almost went mad from them. So, I turned around. And…”

“And?”

She watched him with a question in her eyes as rubbed her hands. Her wooden hand she kept close to her chest as the other hovered near the fire’s heat.

“I know I said I am human, but I don't feel human anymore,” Kylo murmured.

She remembered the damaged skin, as if someone had ripped off a part of him and sewed something foreign into his skin.

He shrugged, nonchalant. If he knew that she had seen him, he didn't indicate it.

“If it’s time for me to leave, I will leave. I can’t guarantee that I won’t turn around and go back into the forest.”

Rey hoped that he would come with her. It was only because she didn't want to think about him alone in the forest.

That was all.

* * *

* * *

“I didn't think porgs would be in this region of the forest,” Rey muttered.

She had seen them when the forest looked like home, but after that, the tell-tale cooing had gone silent.

A flock of porgs, over thirty of them, foraged along the forest floor, cooing and grumbling as they picked the dirt clean of bugs. They would have scared them away if Kylo hadn’t heard them honking as they approached.

“Porgs?” Kylo whispered incredulously as they hunched behind a bush.

Rey shrugged, “It’s what I call them.”

Kylo looked at her and back at the flock. “That’s a better name than what I came up with,” he mumbled.

Rey snorted just loud enough that Kylo nudged her to get her to quiet down.

“Perfect chance to eat something real for once.”

He held out his staff and the gem flashed bright red.

She turned away from the glare, but it didn't shield her from the sickening crunch and squawking of porgs. Kylo was already stepping into the clearing and towards the three mangled porgs when she turned back. It was a brutal mimic of surgery with thin and deep cuts slicing through the birds. It must have been a painless death, but Rey couldn't help the horrified expression that painted her face.

“What?” Kylo asked when he turned to see her face. “Do you want to eat something that isn’t mud?”

The pile of flesh and feathers didn't look particularly appetizing, but she knew better than to refuse food when offered.

“Fine. We aren’t eating it raw, though. I draw the line there.”

“Of course, we’re cooking it. I’m not going to make both of us sick.”

Kylo stooped down to collect the porgs off of the ground. Blood and feathers sprinkled to the ground. “You look at them like you’ve never seen a dead animal before.”

“Well, I don't hang out with the town butchers. The Ticos raise their cows for milk, not meat.”

Kylo shrugged. “That’s fair.”

Rey gave his prey a wide berth.

“It’s not gonna come back to life and eat you.”

“I don’t want to get covered in blood and feathers, thank you.”

Rey kept her distance still as Kylo plucked and gutted the porgs near their fire.

He stuck the carcasses into the fire.

“One for you, one for me, and we’ll cook the last one for tomorrow.”

She gestured to the shadows surrounding them. “Wouldn’t carrying cooked meat around attract animals?”

His head tilted, almost as if the thought hadn’t crossed his mind.

“You’re right. We’ll split it.”

He tucked the last bird into the fire and they waited in silence until the copper smell of blood gave way to the scent of cooked meat.

Rey and Kylo took no time in eating their portions the moment they were cooked. Meat meant something filling, full of energy.

“It’s so good,” Rey murmured.

Quickly, their meal was gone. She would’ve taken the time to savor it if she didn't need to rinse her palate of forage.

“And what do we do with all this stuff?” she asked, gesturing to the mess of porg scraps left on the ground.

“Outside of making pillows, the feathers aren’t much use, neither are the bones.”

Rey hummed as she collected the mess in her dirty shirt and dumped it outside the barrier, hoping that it wouldn’t immediately rot and make sleeping impossible.

“That was good,” Rey murmured. “Between that and the bath, I feel like a new person.”

“Yes,” Kylo agreed.

When she lay down to sleep, she rested her arms on her stomach and she looked for stars beyond the treetops.

She could sleep content, if just for one night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback is appreciated! It really is a motivator and stuff!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and chapter 10 were posted 10/18.  
Enjoy!
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: there is some childbirth/pregnancy stuff midway through the chapter. I will annotate when it appears. Skip where you see TW to where it says End TW

They slept through the night, the food making them tired and sluggish. She couldn't be too upset about that, since it was partially her fault.

The forest was deathly quiet when they started to walk. She thought to ask if it meant they were getting closer, but she figured he would tell her if they were getting close. She still held her staff close.

An hour into walking, Kylo stopped in his tracks and Rey almost ran into him.

“What--?” she hissed, before the words died in her mouth.

Shadows moved just beyond the trees, and these _snarled_.

“Oh…_God_,” Rey breathed.

Three beasts stepped out from the trees.

Broad chested and covered in coarse-looking fur, they looked like an amalgam of bears and dogs and something that wasn’t quite of this world.

Their eyes were milky and eyed their new prey with a human-like intensity.

“Don’t turn your back to them,” Kylo said.

Rey’s grip tightened around her staff.

Their fangs and claws were bloodstained, catching in the faint light.

Kylo wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close as the beasts closed in.

“Kylo?” she screeched, struggling to turn and defend as one of the beasts tried to flank them.

He struck his staff to the ground. A clear note rang out and vines sprouted from the ground. They grew up around them, interlocking to make a cage around them.

“That’s cool,” Rey murmured, too preoccupied with the hound-ish beasts that wanted to eat them to notice how painfully close she and Kylo were to each other.

Undeterred, the beasts clamored over the vines and tried to jam their snouts through the tiny gaps in the interwoven mass. Their hot, rotten breath filtered through.

Rey gagged behind her hand, hiding her face behind her cloak.

“I’ve never seen this many all at once,” Kylo muttered. “They usually don't hunt in packs.”

Claws shredded through the thorns, just enough so she could see the mangled grey hair and the flash of yellowed teeth. Kylo stabbed his staff through the hole, poking the monster in the eye.

“What the hell are these things?” Rey asked.

“No idea. They must’ve been attracted to the scraps from yesterday’s meal.”

Rey nodded, grinding her teeth. She should’ve burned the bones and feathers and scattered the ashes. That dinner, once satisfying, roiled in her stomach.

“Have you fought these before?”

“Yes, but never more than one at once. Even then, I didn’t come out unscathed.”

The image of his back, marred and corrupted, flashed through her mind. His head jerked towards her, as if he had seen what she thought.

“It’s not gonna hold for long, so be ready,” Kylo said.

The vines crumpled with the next blows from clawed paws, but the humans behind it were ready. Kylo lashed out with magic as Rey swung her staff and struck one of the beasts in the head. It howled and backed away before standing on its hind-legs. There, it stood taller than Kylo, all lean muscle.

It also made it a bigger target.

Rey backed away, magic swirling around her as she struck forward with a burst of white energy.

The beast dropped back to its forepaws and the blast soared over its head. The energy tore through the tree bark in a plume of red and black.

A gale ripped through the clearing.

Rey dropped to her knees with a cry as a swooping feeling turned her stomach and burning arced up her arm, fingertips to shoulder.

“Rey?”

Kylo’s arm was around her, but she couldn't see, couldn't comprehend anything other than the pain.

“It hurts!” she wailed.

It permeated her bones, as if she had stuck her entire arm in an oven and let it sit there as it burned. The roaring in her ears was deafening.

While the world finally quieted down, she felt weak and the pins-and-needles sensation that crawled up and down her arm was near-maddening.

Her eyes cracked open to see that familiar black mask peering down at her. It took a moment, several moments for her fuzzy brain, to realize that Kylo had her cradled in his arms. If she didn't feel like she was about to die, her stomach would’ve been doing flips. Instead, a sudden dread took hold.

She had felt it when she fought Snoke, when his magic passed through her. Something was wrong and every fiber of her body knew it.

“You should’ve just let me die,” she rasped, head lolling and eyes flickering.

Kylo’s arms tightened around her as fireworks flashed behind her eyelids.

“No. No, I shouldn’t have.”

She shook her head, eyes drifting closed. Her arm was dead weight but at least it didn’t cause her pain anymore, not yet.

* * *

* * *

Her dreams didn't bring any pain. She was grateful for that.

Instead, she found herself an observer of memories that weren’t hers.

It was Padmé, standing in a doorway. She was clothed like a princess in a storybook, her dress in shades of pink and orange. The cut and flow of the dress did nothing to hide the swell of her stomach. She was beautiful, but her expression creased in worry.

The source of the worry became apparent as Rey followed her gaze to a man stood on the balcony, his back to her.

“Anakin?” Padmé called out.

For a moment, the man didn't turn, satisfied with staring at the starry sky. Finally, he turned with a smile. “How are our children?” he asked.

She reached out to take his hands, pressing them to her belly. “They’re sleeping, Ani, as should you.”

The man looked sheepish for a moment. “I know.”

“What’s been keeping you up?”

He tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. A delicate rose appeared where his hand had been a moment earlier.

“A bad dream,” he murmured.

Padmé regarded him disbelievingly. “Anakin, I’m your wife. I know when something’s wrong.”

“Our children…”

“Will be fine,” she insisted with a smile. “_I_ will be fine.”

“You can’t be sure of that. My magic may not be enough to save you.”

Anakin pulled her close, one hand resting over her stomach and the other cupping her face.

“I won’t lose you, Padmé. I won’t allow it.” He leaned down and kissed her.

Rey couldn't look away, but she felt like a voyeur, guilty of watching a moment that wasn’t hers to watch. They loved each other. It was the sort of love she had seen between Satine and Obi-Wan.

“You should sleep, Anakin. You’ll wake up and realize that everything will be fine.”

Anakin nodded, but something told Rey that he wasn’t convinced.

He pulled away and retreated further into the house.

Padmé sighed where she stood, lifting her finger towards her face.

A tiny vine sprouted from her fingertip, drooping towards the ground.

So, Padmé _did_ have magic. It was an older magic, something Rey couldn't quite identify.

The scene melted, marble floors turning to dirt, sunlight shining unimpeded from the sky.

Anakin paced, alone this time. His left hand clenched and unclenched, as if worrying at an old wound.

Three paces, turn on his heel, three paces back.

The ground sprouted clovers and baby’s breath underneath his feet, sprouting, only to be trampled on. Anakin whipped around at the sound of dried twigs snapping underfoot only to recoil at what he saw.

The bowed-over figure shuffled forward, hood covering their face.

“Who are you?” Anakin asked.

Snoke bowed low before revealing his face.

“A friend, Master Skywalker.”

Rey wanted to yell and scream and warn him than Snoke was the enemy. Her words were silent, unnoticed.

“I’ve heard of your powers, sir. I have come to seek a temporary reprieve from the pain that has wracked my body for years.”

Anakin rolled his eyes, as if he was used to people coming to him asking for favors and miracles.

“I sense you have magic. Why don’t you heal yourself?” he asked, not disguising his derision.

“I cannot heal myself, sir. It’s my burden.” Snoke reached out a quivering hand. “Please, sir.”

She would’ve been suspicious if she had been in Anakin’s position, but he didn’t hesitate.

Anakin let his hand land on Snoke’s, merely resting on the cracked skin.

She didn’t recognize the spell, but she couldn’t help but be reminded of Kylo’s healing spell. It had a similar cadence, if only more powerful.

A warm breeze passed through.

Snoke let out a guttural sigh as his spine seemed to uncurl and he was able to stand taller.

“Eager guy,” Anakin muttered, wiping his hand on his coat. Snoke might as well have had a papercut for all the concern Anakin showed.

“My apologies. I see that you are worried, sir. Perhaps I may offer counsel, in exchange for your healing gift.”

Rey didn't know the end of the story, but she could sense it wouldn’t end well. Though Anakin didn't notice, Snoke watched him with a calculating eye.

“My wife is due soon. I can’t help but worry.”

Snoke perked up with a false, snake-like cheer. “Your wife is expecting a child?”

Anakin grinned, chest puffing up with pride. “Children. Twins.”

“Ah, twins,” Snoke sighed dreamily. “Twice the blessing on your household.”

Anakin’s expression pinched. “I fear that she will die in childbirth and our children will die with her. I’ve seen it in my dreams.”

It wasn’t just fear. It was an obsession he held for months, only to bubble to the surface as the due date approached.

“There is powerful magic in the forest.”

“I know. Everyone knows that. What does that have to do with anything.”

A sly smile flashed across Snoke’s face, though Anakin couldn't see it.

“What you should do is find the tallest tree and cut it down. From there, craft a bed and have her give birth there. The magic from that tree will keep her safe.”

“The trees are sacred,” Anakin said, horrified by the idea.

“Old wives’ tales to keep us from that wellspring of magic.”

Anakin’s lip curled and he waved Snoke away. “No. I wish you well, traveler, but I won’t do such a thing.”

Snoke slunk away, but Anakin’s gaze followed him.

* * *

_ **TW** _

* * *

* * *

* * *

The scene tilted again, splitting in two.

One half was painfully familiar, a forest and a tall, tall tree with a wide trunk. Anakin stood before it, hefting an ax over his shoulder.

In the other, Padmé strained in the birthing bed, one child already being cleaned by the nurse and the other making her entrance into the world.

Anakin swung the ax and suddenly everything was beginning to make sense.

One, of Anakin chopping that tree down, and one of Padmé jerking upright with a yell.

The babies in their cradle wailed as Padmé staggered to her feet, blood running down her legs and dripping to the floor.

Rey had heard of beings with their life forces tied to trees and rivers. Those encounters were so rare that they had been written off as legend. This was very real.

“Milady, you must sit!” the midwife insisted.

She shook her head, stumbling towards the door.

“No,” she choked, pushing away anyone who tried to stop her.

Padmé made it to the courtyard as the blade bit further towards the core of the tree.

“I don’t understand,” she rasped.

She staggered further, trying to find the bench that sat under a willow tree. She didn't make it, but it didn't matter. The tree moved, its limbs catching her as she fell. A gasp echoed throughout the witnessing servants that peered out of windows and off of balconies to see what the fuss was about.

Finally, the horrible, final crack of the ax and the splintering of the wood as the rest of the trunk couldn't hold its own weight.

Padmé let out a gasp and then a rattling sigh. The life left her body, going limp, as the tree crashed to the ground. Though it took mere minutes for Padmé to die, it felt like a culmination of a tragedy that took years to reach fruition.

The two visions merged to one as now Anakin approached the courtyard.

Padme’s body had already been cleared and a golden-haired attendant stood in her place, shifting nervously, red-eyed from tears.

“Threepio!” Anakin shouted. The tree truck levitated gently behind him, only to drop with a thud.

“What happened?” Anakin asked.

“Master, our lady bore your children. We tried to contact you.”

Threepio shifted again, tears filling his eyes once again.

“Something happened, sir. The midwife said it had gone well, but our lady was seized by a fit. We—we couldn't do anything.”

“Where is she?” Anakin demanded, still not understanding what Threepio had told him.

More trembling, now of fear as Anakin’s expression shifted to something akin to rage. “In the house, sir. She—she lies in state. We haven’t contacted anyone; we wanted to wait until you returned.”

“In state?”

Denial, horrible denial, burned away as the pieces fell into place.

“Dead, sir. Three minutes after ten o’clock.”

Anakin let out a blood-curdling yell at the sky and a shadow seemed to cast itself over the world. Threepio cringed and backed away as the air shimmered around Anakin.

“Sir, the children. They’re in the nursery.”

That seemed to snap him back to reality and he stood. None of the fatherly excitement that she had seen before appeared on his face. Instead, it was an intense rage.

For a moment, Rey thought he was going to charge into the house and murder his newborn children and, perhaps, himself.

Instead, he turned on his heel and bolted back into the forest. If he tried to return to the fallen tree, he couldn't find it. Instead, he wandered until darkness fell. Lost, he spun around. “You tricked me, damn you!” Anakin screamed.

The trees shook and rattled around him, full of wordless rage.

He didn't know it, but he had killed their queen. Snoke had known it. He must have known it. Kill the queen and take the power.

Anakin screamed in anger and fire burned at his feet.

“I’ll smoke you out! I’ll burn this damn place if I have to!”

He slammed his fists against the ground and fire sparked, licking at the fallen leaves.

“I’ll burn it!”

The fire reached the edges of the trees and the wind blew in a fever pitch from all directions. The flames turned back and closed over him. He howled.

Burnt hair and flesh sent smoke into the air as the wind screamed around the clearing.

A faint whisper danced through the air as an unnatural magic leeched up from the ground and into the trees.

* * *

** _End TW_ **

* * *

Rey groaned at the feeling of _being_ returned.

She turned to see Kylo hunched near the fire, mere feet from her.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” she said.

She meant it to be dry, but the words shook as they escaped her mouth.

Kylo turned and his hand hovered in the air as if to touch her but lost his nerve.

“You’re awake,” he said.

She nodded, wiggling a little in the pile of blankets that sat on top of her. It was a strange sort of weight, made all the heavier by her weakness.

“I feel like I just came back from the dead,” she mumbled.

She looked to see that her cloak was on top of her. She moved her left arm from under the blanket to see that it was bare, with the exception of her thin undershirt sleeve.

“Did you undress me?” she asked.

“Not fully.”

The fact that Kylo had undressed her should have been at the forefront of her mind. Instead, it was overwhelmed by the fact that her right arm stayed under the blanket and she couldn't move it. She remembered the pain that radiated from her arm, so harsh and bright that she was sure it was going to fall off. It was still there, but it didn't feel right.

“What happened?”

Kylo moved the stack of blankets to reveal the source of the heavy-stiff feeling that wrapped around her arm.

It took a moment to realize that the arm-shaped branch attached to her shoulder was actually her arm. The contours in the wood mimicked muscles and joints, though they didn't move or bend like they ought to. She rolled her shoulder and the wooden branch that was her arm bobbed in answer.

“I don’t know how it happened, Rey. One moment we were fighting the beasts and the next your arm…your arm.”

“I damaged one of the trees and it punished me. That’s how.”

He stood, stumbling in an ungainly motion, before turning to tend to the fire.

He was without the flowing shadow that always followed him. Without his ubiquitous black hood, she could see black shoulder-length hair and the slightest outline of fair skin where the mask didn't cover.

“You’re not wearing your cloak.”

Kylo froze and gestured to the pile of blankets covering Rey. She glanced down to see that tightly-woven black cloak at the very bottom of the pile.

“You were so cold,” Kylo said in explanation.

“What do you mean?”

“The curse sapped your energy to grow that thing. It stole your heat and all the energy you had. You almost died.”

He sat down next to her, feeding the fire, while Rey gaped at him.

“I had to feed you just about everything that we had, to keep you from getting so weak that your heart would stop.”

She blinked at the thought of Kylo cradling her in his arms, tipping a bowl of food into her slack mouth, easing her to swallow.

“And you?”

He hesitated. “I ate some. Took the liberty of polishing off the peaches, once you had eaten.”

Kylo gestured to the glass jar that sat in the leaves between them that had clearly been licked clean of the preserves. She could imagine the ravenous hunger that had him seeking out anything to alleviate it. Rey staunchly ignored the pang of strange heat that followed the sight, dismissing it as the distraction it was.

That wasn’t what she meant and they both knew it. She had felt his concern as vividly as she would feel her own.

“Kylo. What happened?”

“You were dying,” he mumbled, shrugged heavily. “I couldn’t let that happen.”

There had to be something more. He carried himself as if a weight bore down on his shoulders.

Rey reached out and caught his wrist.

It had meant to be a gesture of affection, a thank-you for saving her life. Instead, a strange feeling passed between them, the warm, electric buzz of magic.

The world spun underneath her.

Suddenly, she was looking at herself, caught in another memory. It was a moment of disorientation when the telltale snarl told her exactly when and where she was and who she was. It was a strange out-of-body experience to watch herself slumped in Kylo’s, her, arms, once again made a witness.

“Rey! Dammit!” Kylo shouted.

He slammed his staff against the ground and sharp rocks sprouted out of the ground, launching into the beasts that circled them. They howled and snarled as the sharp rocks bit into the flesh, spraying blood on the ground. One dropped to the ground, twitching before going still. The others snapped and growled before running back into the forest.

Kylo scanned the clearing before turning to Rey’s limp body. Color had drained out of her face as her body shivered.

“Rey, come on.”

He shook her, trying to rouse her. Her eyes flickered open, but they rolled and twitched, not fully focusing on Kylo.

“You should’ve let me die,” she slurred.

“No. No, I shouldn’t have.”

Her eyes rolled back and went limp.

“Dammit,” Kylo hissed.

Kylo ripped off her cloak, her shirt following. Rey watched as wood crawled up her arm, scale after scale, the soft inner fiber and the slick red upper bark, past her elbow and towards her shoulder. Heat radiated off of the limb, a shadow of sensation in Rey’s mind. The rest of her body was pale and clammy.

“Dammit!”

He pried off his gloves. One hand had blackened, near-necrotic tissue covering most of his fingers. The discoloration continued up the back of his hand and under his sleeve.

He gripped past her shoulder, right before the growing wood. He bowed over her, frantic magic flowing from him to her.

The wood stopped where his skin met hers and the wind roared in protest.

“You won’t take her yet,” he hissed.

She still trembled underneath him, eyelids shivering and jaw clenched. Shadows appeared in her cheeks and around her eyes, the effects of days of malnourishment happening in seconds.

Rey was watching herself die.

“No.” Kylo pressed one hand over her heart and the other on her abdomen. The incantation that flowed from his mouth was less of a song and more of a prayer. Rey relaxed in his arms, her face becoming less pinched. Slowly, warmth returned to her body.

In turn, the darkness receded from his fingertips, revealing pale skin.

The spell ended and Kylo sagged in exhaustion. He moved his hand under his mask and wiped under his nose. A thin trail of blood smeared over his pale skin when he pulled back.

Kylo hissed a curse before shrugging off his cloak and wrapping it around her. He swore under his breath, over and over. He slung their packs over his shoulders and took her in his arms and struggled to his feet. It was ungainly and slow, compensating for the weight.

He started to walk.

She fell out of his mind and back into her own, once again flat on her back in a pile of blankets.

They were both out of breath. Rey felt dizzy, a mix of emotions roiling in chest.

He had held her so gently, though she couldn't remember the touch. Blood had stained his skin, crippled by whatever spell he had used.

“How much magic did you spend to keep me alive?” Rey asked.

Kylo wouldn’t look at her. “Enough to get the job done.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. You’re alive, that’s what matters.”

She had no energy to argue with him. She wasn’t even angry with him, just concerned.

“Please, Rey. Just rest.”

She didn't have much choice in the matter. She tucked her wooden arm underneath the blanket and thought only of a protective embrace.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and chapter 13 were posted 10/25.  
Enjoy!

It took another two days before they could even think about moving again.

The amount of time it was taking them to fulfill their task was worrying, but, at that point, she was simply glad that they weren’t dead. For all she knew, her town was already consumed by the forest. She was utterly blind to what was outside. Her necklace was a thin thread to home, but she couldn't sense anything beyond that.

“We need to hurry,” Rey mumbled.

Her right arm swung uselessly by her side. Her clothes kept the wood from chafing against her skin, but eventually it would just be wood rubbing on wood.

Kylo had to help her put her clothes back on, which was a task by itself. He was gentle, as if she was going to shatter if he touched too hard. When he was finished, he quickly put as much space as he could between them.

She didn’t know why and didn’t want to prod too much at the thought.

“Does it hurt?”

Rey shook her head, though the edges bit and pressed against her skin. It had looked terrible in the memory Rey had seen. Her body had been thrown into chaos and her brain had just sort of shut down in response. She remembered little, only his memories to piece together what had happened.

She reached up and gingerly poked at the edge of the wood, at the curve of her armpit and over the slope of her shoulder.

“Now, it doesn’t hurt. It just feels odd. I just think its gonna start being painful once it grows into my back and chest and starts rubbing.”

He ducked his head in shame. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it fully.”

“It’s not your fault. You did what you could so I didn’t immediately turn into a tree and I didn't die.” She stopped, turning to Kylo. “Thank you. I really do owe you a debt for what you did and are doing.”

Kylo shook his head. “You would do the same for me.”

“The point is that you did. I’m grateful for that. This forest seems to have it out for me.”

“It rarely shows any favor to anyone.”

“We were able to eat and drink. I guess that’s good.” She paused, biting her lip. “It brought me to you.”

She smiled when his entire body shook in shock as she mentally reeled at her boldness.

“Come on. We still have a long way to go.”

They walked in silence.

It was taking a long time. She knew the forest was big, either because of the curse or in spite of it. The state of her arm brought a new sense of urgency.

Rey winced as suddenly wood poked at the soft flesh of her armpit. That wasn’t a good sign, but she didn’t speak up. It was growing noticeably faster.

She clamped her mouth shut and followed Kylo.

* * *

* * *

As they walked, dread rested heavily in her empty stomach. The forest looked mostly the same throughout, no matter what, but this was vaguely familiar.

That thought pulled at her until she saw the of ash on the ground. The pile had been rained on and left clumps.

She stooped down, cradling her staff in the bend of her arm, as she drew her fingers through the cold ash.

“We’ve been here.”

She could even sense their lingering magic. She didn't know how long it had been since they had been there, but she imagined it was several days.

“We’re going in circles,” she spat, throwing the dirt back.

She would’ve been understanding. She would’ve allowed Kylo to lead and she would follow. Maybe it was because she was tired or because she had this…this _tumor_ cleaved to her body that her patience was razor-thin.

“Do you actually know where you’re going?” she hissed. Anger welled up, volatile, tears burning in her eyes.

“I do.”

That answer didn't satisfy her. If anything, it served to grate on her nerves. How long had they been walking?

“Clearly not. If you knew, we wouldn’t be going in a circle. It has been over two weeks. We would actually be going somewhere unless. Unless,” she froze, blood running cold as the answer became obvious.

“Unless?” Kylo asked flatly.

The world tilted under her feet as the questions that dogged her found their answers. He knew exactly where they were going.

“Unless you meant for us to go in circles,” she breathed.

Kylo faced her, but she wanted to rip off his mask to make him look at her. Still, he didn't speak.

“You haven’t been leading me anywhere, have you?” she hissed. “Tell me the truth!”

Deafening, telling silence followed.

“Is this some kind of joke? Screw with the naive girl who wandered where she shouldn’t?”

“It isn’t,” Kylo said, finally.

“Then, what? Were you so desperate for company that you would lie to me and keep me around as long as possible?”

That got a reaction, a thread of tension stiffening his spine. “If I have my way, we won’t anywhere close to Snoke or the source of this fucking forest,” Kylo snapped.

The truth hung in the air between them, an invisible wall that suddenly formed between them. She sucked in a breath, her flesh hand curled into a white-knuckled fist.

“What are you saying?”

The confession came. “We aren’t heading towards Snoke. I was hoping, after enough time, you would give up and take us both out of here.”

Rage, poisonous and clouding, tinted her vision. She wanted to punch him with her wooden arm, wood on wood. She wanted to stab him with these branches, in the shoulder, arm, wherever it wasn’t lethal. Stab and twist, make him feel the pain she felt.

“You lied to me? This curse is killing me and you’re wasting my time!” she shouted, voice cracking.

This mission was her everything, now. It was her last act before…

“You don’t know that for sure," Kylo yelled right back, out of clear frustration.

She refused to sympathize with him. Instead, she hooked her staff under her right arm and waved it, like hinged joints of a doll.

“Yes, I do. And you know that as well.” She shook her head, stepping back and away from him. She wanted to cry, but she let iron gird her spine.

“You swore you wouldn’t turn on me. You swore to me,” she said. Her voice cracked and she winced. She had been a fool to expect him to keep his oath.

“Fighting Snoke is a suicide mission. I was just keeping you alive.”

It would’ve been kind if it hadn’t been so cruel at the same time. A delayed death was the same as a quick one, all the same result.

Rey dug her nails into her staff, wishing it was skin. “I’m going to die anyway. At least I had—_have_ a chance to fight him.”

Kylo shook his head. His hands twitched up towards his face, but then they hung limply by his sides. “We can leave the forest and go somewhere far away, where the forest can’t touch us. We can start anew.”

Painfully earnest, utterly selfish, as if the forest wouldn’t find them even to the ocean’s edge. And he thought that she would agree to such a thing?

“You think I want to go anywhere with you after you’ve led me astray?” she asked.

He hid his intentions the entire time they had known each other. He wouldn’t even show her his face. The truly sad part of it was that she would’ve followed him from one end of the damn forest to the other, even if he had never shown what he hid under the mask.

“Tell me where to go; pointing the way will suffice,” she demanded. “If you lie to me again, I’ll kill you.”

Even as she said it, she wasn’t sure if she could follow through with the threat, if she was physically able to begin with. She felt too much, too soft for her once-companion, though her heart was clouded with anger.

Kylo hesitated for a moment. If he didn't tell her anything, she didn't know what she would do. She would keep walking until she found Snoke or this curse stopped her heart.

Instead, he sucked in a shuddering breath and pointed to his left. “That way. I swear on my life I’m not lying.”

Was that the choked-up sound of remorse? She didn’t know and she didn’t particularly care. He could swear on whatever he wanted.

“Good. Maybe this is the first time you’ve told me the truth since the moment we met.” She didn't know if the words hurt, but she hoped they did.

He bowed as if she had cuffed him over the ear, utter supplication to the one he wronged. “Rey, I’m sorry.”

Hollow words, ones she couldn't give any credit to, no matter if the tone turned her stomach and made her more sad than angry. “If you were sorry, you would’ve been leading me to Snoke. You wouldn’t have been leading me in a circle, putting my people at risk.”

Her life was forfeit, but her people still needed her.

“We’re done. You can go now. Go build a shelter or finally get the guts to leave this place, I don’t really care.”

She didn’t want him near her. She didn’t want him to touch her or even look at her. She didn’t want to look at him either.

“Rey.”

“Goodbye, Kylo.”

She started down the path he pointed to.

She had been a fool. All of the twists and turns that they had gone through went nowhere. She should’ve seen what was happening.

A damned fool.

* * *

* * *

Any enjoyment she took in her quest had evaporated. Instead, bitterness took its place. She had forgotten how lonely it was, walking through the forest without anyone to talk to.

She buried any of the unnecessary things in her bag to lighten the load. She tucked her wooden arm under her cloak and pinned the empty sleeve to her side.

It was obvious that Kylo was following her. She was too keyed into his presence, into the telltale signature of his magic, for her to avoid noticing.

One simple motion and her loneliness would end. She could forgive him and they could continue their journey, united. She was too angry to entertain the idea. She pretended she couldn’t see him, though every part of her wanted to look back. He didn’t even dare call out in apology.

She didn’t know what she would do if he did.

When it was time for her to stop for the night, Kylo didn't dare approach. Just to spite him, she stopped as soon as the sky turned dark, switching her schedule to how she had wanted since the beginning.

If Kylo didn't like it, he could always leave.

She set up the wards, steadfastly ignoring the man who trailed her the entire day. Rey hoped that he would wander off, but after lying there for several minutes, pretending to be asleep, it was clear that he wasn’t going to leave where he stood watching her.

She pulled her hood over her face and dreamt of her new shadow reaching for her. His fingers trailed across her throat and she shivered.

They trailed up over her lips and across her cheek, cupping her face.

She knew who that ghost was, but she couldn’t allow herself to think too hard or her anger would make this fantasy disappear. Even her arm was an afterthought to the hands touching her so gently and chastely.

She awoke with a shudder, cotton in her mouth and an ache between her thighs. Of course, it took her companion to betray her for these feelings to rise to the surface with a new, fierce intensity.

This longing was only to be ignored.

She turned slightly, only to find her new shadow hunched against a tree only a stone’s throw away.

Whether he slept or watched her, she didn’t know. She didn’t care.

Really, she didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments are appreciated!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and Chapter 12 were posted 10/25  
Enjoy!

After a day, she knew she was getting closer.

She was meant to feel the magic changing as she got closer; that much was clear. Again, she cursed herself for allowing Kylo to trick her. The whole time, they traveled and got nowhere close. The magic that had surrounded them stayed fairly static and she didn't think that she would be able to feel as she got closer to Snoke.

It felt heavier, stifling, like the inside of a tomb.

Her knuckles cracked around her staff.

“I hate this,” she breathed.

Kylo still followed her. He seemed to trail behind her further and further as the time increased, but he wouldn’t leave in his dogged kind of stubbornness. He cared so little that he allowed her to waste precious time but he cared too much to leave her?

She hated him. She really did.

At least her parents had the decency to drop her off and completely exit her life. At least they made it clear that they didn’t care. She let the tears dripping down her cheeks dry there. He would be able to see if she moved her hand to wipe them away.

She wanted him to leave but she was terrified of the thought of him leaving. If he left, they wouldn’t see each other again. The forest wouldn’t allow them to be together again, surely. Her quest would drive her one way and his retreat would drive him another.

She continued with her shadow. She didn’t antagonize him, but she didn’t call to him.

Her arm felt heavy, another burden atop the pack on her back.

As she walked, something felt more alive about the forest. The trees didn't change, but she could hear buzzing and chirping. It didn't sound quite right, as if off-key.

There were more butterflies and they only brought bittersweet memories. She avoided them, swatting at them when they flew too close to her face. Despite everything, she heeded the warning Kylo had given her what felt like years ago.

It really was a pity. They were nice to look at, but she already had one pair of eyes boring holes into the back of her head. She didn’t need any more.

The light filtering in through the trees was feverishly bright and sent fireworks flashing behind her eyes as she blinked.

“Dammit,” she mumbled.

She swiped her hand over her eyes, pressing the heel of her palm into one eye and then the other.

“Rey!”

Her entire body stiffened in a sudden rage at the sound of his voice. She opened her eyes, unwilling to look back at him.

Instead, she was facing a hovering figure.

She staggered back as her gaze travelled up the clean clothes and frail figure to the figure’s face.

“Grandpa?” she gasped.

He was in his robe, the cloth pristine, and a hewn rope wrapped around his neck. His face bulged and his skin was stained black and blue.

Her breath stopped in her chest.

“Rey, it isn’t real!”

Irritation and relief rose in tandem at the sound of Kylo’s voice. He could see it; how did that make it not real?

“Shut up!” she shouted. Her voice cracked tearfully. He didn't want his comfort.

“Rey, you see someone you love, don’t you?” Kylo called out.

Fear shook through her. She couldn't breathe and she could barely hear him through the roaring sound in her ears.

“I said, shut up!”

It shouldn’t have been possible. Obi-Wan was far from her, keeping their family home, protecting the town. Snoke didn't touch him, he said he was too old to even venture into the forest.

He said he was too old for these sorts of adventures. He didn't follow her into the forest. He was safe, far away from this place.

“It’s not real. I’ve seen my parents hanging from the trees. It’s a trick.”

Rey shook her head and let her eyes flicker shut. She sucked in a breath, the twinging pain of the wood becoming her anchor. She couldn't rely on Kylo’s voice, though her heart ached for his company.

She opened her eyes and the body was gone. It was an illusion. Obi-Wan was far from her.

“See?”

The hallucination had passed and the memories of the fight chased the fearful tears from her eyes, hardening her heart once again.

She steeled herself and walked forward again.

* * *

* * *

A twig snapped in the shadows and her heart climbed to her throat. She kept walking, on alert.

She didn't turn to Kylo to see if he had similarly reacted. For all she was concerned, he wasn’t even there. She was alone.

She froze when a deer crossed her path. It stopped, head turning towards her. Its horns grew straight up in glossy black spirals; its eyes shone with an unnaturally bright light, like polished opals. It darted away before she could think to move, towards or away from it.

Rey ducked behind a tree as another deer sprinted through. Another, and another. Suddenly, the whole forest thundered. She pressed her back flat against the tree trunk as shadows streamed through. One shadow, smaller than the rest, paused in her peripheral vision. She turned, half-expecting to be gored for her troubles.

Instead, she relaxed when she saw it was a fawn that stopped several feet away from her, regarding her curiously. It lacked the curved horns, but had the same white eyes. She looked at it and it looked at her and sniffed at the air between them.

A high-pitched trill sang through the air and the fawn returned to its herd.

She smiled after it, feeling oddly like she had been blessed.

She glanced back and found Kylo standing just beyond the trees, watching her. The smile that clung to her mouth evaporated as she remembered herself.

She didn’t need him. He pointed the way and that was all he could ever offer her that was of any use.

He seemed to shift towards her, but thought better of it. He didn’t say a word.

She adjusted her cloak and started walking again.

Obi-Wan would have knocked his knuckles on her head, telling her that her pride was foolish. He had told her stories of making alliances with those he disliked, only to go right back to disliking them once he had gotten what he wanted.

Perhaps she was being proud, but she couldn’t bring herself to care when the specter of death literally clung to her shoulder.

She couldn’t even roll her arm to rid herself of the stiffness that closed around her joints. She mumbled a curse at nothing in particular.

* * *

* * *

That night, she couldn't sleep. The forest was too loud and the wood bit into her no matter what way she slept. Obi-Wan’s bloated face and glassy eyes flashed in her mind.

She mumbled sleepy spells as her fingers ran over the edges of the wood, flaring icy-hot to give a soothing feeling if only for a few snatches of time. She imagined the tree she sat against was a luxurious pillow in a cottage with a roaring furnace and cupboards full of food. A hand held hers in that dream, thumb swiping gently over her knuckles.

The quiet drum of a woodpecker jolted her from the comforting doze, signaling the morning.

Kylo still slept when she slept and woke when she awoke. She refused to acknowledge the uncomfortable relief she felt in knowing that he was still there.

Everything felt slower as she stood up. Her joints, even the not-wooden ones, protested every movement she made.

“Dammit,” she breathed.

This was a nightmare. How a beast hadn’t come charging from the shadows to rip her to pieces was a mystery to her. She could only assume that the potent cloud of magic kept them at bay. Or they were simply in the shadows, waiting for a chance.

The pungent smell of smoke hit before her feet crunched over dry needles and curled ferns and her melancholy thoughts stuttered to a halt. Until then, the trees had remained tall and red.

The verdant forest gave way to grey scars and copper-colored leaves, forming a perfectly round clearing. Even the ground smelled like burning. Smoke plumed off of the grass, still smoldering.

Now, there were black and grey slashed through the red, entire sections sloughed off.

This was wrong.

“Rey?” Kylo called out.

Kylo’s voice sent a pang through her, once again. Affection, irritation, all at once. She settled on irritation, a disruption from her thoughts. There was no hallucination of Obi-Wan to shatter her heart, but there was still the fear, fear that she could handle herself.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” she snapped.

Dread crawled up her spine, the air suddenly changing. It was charged, like she had dropped into an entirely different world.

Something was definitely wrong. It wasn’t Snoke. She would’ve recognized it if it was Snoke. This wasn’t the kind of calculating magic, like a cat playing with a mouse. Instead, this was anger and sorrow in a horrible, potent fog.

“I’ve been here before,” she breathed.

That was a flicker of memory, not quite hers, detached.

“Rey.”

The smell of burning hair stung her nose and heat closed over her, as if she had stepped into a furnace.

“Rey!”

A figure erupted from the ground with a guttural groan, scattering dirt and ash. Rey almost tripped over herself as she stumbled back. Whatever this was could have been human once. Ash clung to pink, wrinkled skin, not a hair in sight. Black cloth stuck to the figure in ragged strips.

“Who are you?” Rey asked, the answer clinging to the back of her head. This was her nightmare, her vision in a wounded haze.

Yellow eyes opened into slits as a cough shook the emaciated frame.

“Intruders,” came the rasping voice.

The heat intensified, an ancient magic that she couldn’t even think to identify.

“Kylo?” she called out, stepping away.

Kylo was at her shoulder in an instant, as if the fight had never happened. For a moment, she felt her fear evaporate

Later, perhaps they would return to source and shadow, permanently apart from each other.

“Flank him,” he hissed.

They broke apart, giving the figure a wide berth.

“I don’t like intruders,” the figure gurgled.

He had no staff or obvious weapons, but that mattered little. He flung out his hand.

Rey stamped her staff against the ground and a barrier of air formed between her and the wave of fire. It scorched her lungs and sent a raw fear through her. She wanted to sprint back into the forest and hide.

“Watch out!” she shouted.

Kylo ducked before sparks could strike his head, too close for comfort.

Something was wrong. He kept moving, but his grip was slack on his staff, his expression trained only on the figure. He was off-balance.

Before her eyes, the monster’s visage had shifted. Scarred head and blackened limbs turned to blonde hair and tanned skin. The monster turned into a young, cocksure and handsome man, grinning at Kylo.

“Anakin,” she breathed.

His mouth moved, the words unheard to her, only for Kylo’s ears. He staggered towards Anakin and his staff fell from his fingers.

“Kylo, it’s a trick!” Rey yelled.

No recognition of her words flickered over his face. Kylo staggered forward, arms reaching out as if to embrace the man before him.

Anakin backhanded Kylo in the face, the motion almost a blur. The harsh sound of wood splitting rang out as his mask was torn from his face. Then, the monster struck with his other hands, the glint of a blade shining as it bit into Kylo's collarbone.

Kylo grunted as Anakin pushed up, the knife crunching through his shoulder and up into his face, biting across his cheek and into his brow.

He collapsed soundlessly as Rey lunged forward, swinging her staff wildly, striking the man in the head.

“Get away from him!” she yelled, putting herself between him and Kylo.

“You think he will love you?” the monster spat.

Rey froze, her heart climbing to her throat.

Yellow eyes flashed as he knew he lay a damaging blow.

“I see into your heart as I see into his. It runs through his blood. He will sooner destroy you than love you.”

“Shut up.”

She didn’t want to think about it. She had thought about it: lurid thoughts while dozing at the fire, of what little he had revealed to her. He had been a good travel companion, just out of her reach. Even in his web of lies, she couldn't find herself to hate him.

“Give up your quest and leave," the beast goaded. "Leave him to die. It is better than what staying will lead you to.”

“Shut up! Leave!”

She swung her staff around again, shards of stone and sand flung at his face as he recoiled.

“Silly girl.” His body crumbled to ash, chased away by a gust of wind. The heat dissipated and the presence disappeared, for now.

Rey knelt by Kylo, wincing at the bleeding gash that started at his chest and up through his brow. His lip had split and angry bruises started to form where Anakin had struck him

“Why did you do that? Why?” she hissed, shaking him slightly.

He didn't respond, though his breath puffed out shallowly between his lips. Lips she could see, a face she could see, though most of it was obscured by blood. The knife had dug deeply, revealing the shine of flesh and white of bone. She couldn't be sure if he had lost his eye in the process. Blood soaked into his coat, but she couldn't tell where the wound started and his clothes began.

“You damned fool,” she sniffed.

He had been tricked so easily, but that wasn’t why he was a fool. He had come back to her and fought by her side. She left him and he followed her and defended her with a loyalty that she couldn’t have predicted. She couldn’t understand why.

A pained grunt escaped Kylo's mouth and she held her flesh hand over his face. She fumbled, trying to remember a spell that lay in the back of her mind but refused to come to light.

He instead bled and bled and Rey could feel him get weaker.

“The river. Where’s the river?” she breathed.

A breeze breathed through the trees, stirring the needles and tossing them into the air.

“_Go_.”

She didn’t need to be told twice.

She shoved Kylo’s staff through a loop in her pack, her own following it. Rey couldn’t take his bag with her. She had her bag across her back and she could carry Kylo, but she couldn’t handle that much weight.

Rey ripped out one of the pelts and his canteen and what food he had and stuffed them into her bag. She left the rest lying on the ground and hoped that he would forgive her when he awoke.

Kylo was limp, head lolling as she dragged him through the trees. She poured as much magic as she could in keeping them upright.

Soon, too soon, she could hear the telltale sound of water flowing. It shouldn’t have been possible. They had been moving away from the river. It shouldn’t have been that close.

This forest was fickle. It put monsters in their path and then offered salvation. Though the rocky shore was merciless against her feet, she was thankful for it.

Rey dropped her bag on the ground, uncaring of the loud sound that followed.

She pulled off her cloak and pushed off his own, leaving them in a heap by the shore. She struggled with the coat and shirt he wore underneath, managing to unbutton them to reveal pale skin soaked with blood.

A thousand times, she cursed her right arm for its uselessness. Her body ached and ached still as she dragged Kylo towards the shore.

Though she expected the chill, it still was a shock. She dragged him into the shallows, kneeling down and propping his body against her. The magic choked in her mouth, the spells coming up blank. She didn't know the magic to save him.

“Will you heal him?” she asked the river, hoping that there was something there that would respond.

She sat for a small eternity, waiting for an answer, cold. Kylo bled and bled, red mixing with the clear water.

“_For a price_.”

Rey understood. There was little else that she could give but what hung around her neck. She pulled the ring off of the chain and held it in her palm. The energy that radiated from it warmed her skin, but it brought a heaviness to her heart.

It would lead her home, the only way she could find her way home, but it was the only thing of value she had. It felt selfish, no matter what she did. She would be giving up her ability to go home, to possibly die in her grandfather’s house, or allow Kylo to die in her arms.

She pressed a kiss onto the stone, apologizing to her grandfather, before dropping it into the water. It hit the surface with a deep plop, catching the sunlight through the water’s surface before disappearing from sight.

“_That will do nicely_.”

She cradled him, water soaking her pants. Carefully, she cupped water into her hand and streamed it over his face and his chest, over and over. The blood ran off into the water, then, slowly, the bleeding stopped.

The raw, open wounds faded from angry red and purple to yellow and brown.

Kylo gasped in his sleep, like a man who had been held underwater and was finally allowed back to the surface to breathe.

Her arm tingled from fingertip to her shoulder and, before her eyes, tiny branches sprouted from the trunk of her arm, delicate leaves growing from the branches.

Her fingers lengthened to a bundle of crooked branches, sprouting their own oval leaves. A cluster of pink flowers grew where her palm once was.

“Oh,” she said softly.

“_It’s a shame you’re turning into a tree. You would make a fine river._”

She kept her gaze on Kylo, ignoring the river and the spirits that lived in it. He was healed, but his body shivered finely from the cold. Rey staggered to her feet, dragging him out of the water. She cursed the extra weight his sodden clothes created. They flopped back onto dry ground.

“We’re okay,” she breathed. “We’re okay.”

She sighed, tapping her head against the stone ground. Now, she could definitely feel the wood biting into her ribs.

“Come on.”

She forced herself to sit up, grunting with effort. She had to keep her torso as unmoving as possible, letting her free arm and core do all the work.

This was going to make everything very difficult. She had hoped that the river would at least grant her a reprieve, but it only seemed to make it worse.

Kylo slept peacefully on his back, unknowing of her struggle to even stand.

“Yeah, keep sleeping,” she mumbled.

She dragged him away from the shore and for a moment it was just as normal. She set up the wards and the fire with a shaky hand. Kylo had kept her warm when she was injured, so she would do the same.

As gently as she could, she patted his hair dry with her cloak, but the rest of his clothes were still wet. She gritted her teeth before touching her hand to the center of his chest, then to his knee, sending just enough warmth to dry his clothes that it didn't completely exhaust her.

From there, she could only bundle up Kylo so much with what they had. What had thoroughly surrounded her needed to be stretched thin to cover his body. She nibbled at what little food they had left, watching him sleep. She didn’t want to look too hard at the wood that now crept down her side and into her back and chest. The river had exacted a greater price than Obi-Wan’s ring.

Rey didn’t know if he knew what had happened. She was so far away and the snap of that thread that connected them was likely so small that it was imperceptible. She wouldn’t be able to go home, but she had gone in with that same expectation. She couldn’t be too upset about it, but it still formed a pit in her stomach.

She gave it up for the liar across from her and she couldn’t say that it wasn’t worth it.

His mouth was plush and slack from sleep.

Rey watched him, face feeling red as she cradled the two halves of his mask in her lap. The wood was smooth, similar to the wood crawling down her chest, which she didn't expect. He was an abrasive person; his mask didn't match.

From the firelight, she saw pale, freckled skin. A prominent nose, that wide mouth, angular face framed by that wavy black hair. Kylo jerked from where he lay with a gasp and Rey yelped in shock, almost dropping the mask into the fire.

“Rey?” Kylo called out, voice small and afraid.

She scrambled over to him, placing herself in his line of sight. The stress that tightened his features immediately relaxed.

“I’m here,” Rey whispered. She stared at him, expression softening.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I shouldn’t expect you to forgive me, but I just thought I’d try.” His expression crumpled.

Rey touched his cheek, wiping flecks of dirt and river silt from his skin. His eyelashes fluttered at the touch and her heart clenched.

“You need to rest, Kylo,” she insisted. She pulled the blanket closer to his chin, anything to hide the way her hand shook.

“Ben.”

“What?”

A sleep-drunk smile pulled at his mouth. “My name is Ben. But you can call me whatever you want.”

She stiffened. There was only one Ben that could be in the forest, the boy who walked into the trees and never walked out.

She had buried the incense, but it turned out that she would never need it.

“Then, go to sleep, Ben. You need to conserve your energy.”

“I’m too awake. I don’t want to miss a moment of this.” Despite his words, he closed his eyes, face going slack again.

* * *

* * *

She must have dozed off but the sky was a lot darker than what she was expecting at the time of day. The air smelled like rain. Grey clouds sealed over the sky like the lid of a tomb and thunder rumbled through the air.

A few drops fell from the heavens and then it started to pour.

The fire sputtered, more smoke than flame.

She cursed, throwing their belongings into her bag. Ben had mentioned those great storms.

“Just my luck,” she breathed.

She managed to get Kylo under a tree as the rain started to pick up and the wind howled. Thunder boomed as lightning split the air.

Rey yelped as her foot suddenly sunk into the ground. She whipped around to see a divot in the ground and a hollow in one of the trees. It was big enough to hold two people.

She couldn’t afford to doubt it as the world shook around them. Rey pulled him into the hollow. An icy draft flowed into the hole and she shivered.

She leaned her staff by her side and held out her flesh hand. The sparks flickered at fingertips, start-stop-start, before igniting.

A white fire danced over her palm and warmth washed over them.

There was that primal fear. Her body now feared fire, though it needed it to survive. The human part still dominated that fear, keeping the fire alive.

Kylo—_Ben_, sagged against her chest, his bulk bringing warmth and also a crushing kind of sorrow. What a mess they were.

Rey covered her mouth with the crook of her elbow to smother a hiccupping cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments are appreciated!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and Chapter 15 have been posted! :D  
Enjoy!

She slept until sunlight woke her again: sunlight and that bone-deep ache that encompassed her entire body. Wood had scratched and irritated her skin and then there was the man-shaped form that pressed against her chest.

Ben stirred against her, head lolling against her shoulder.

She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling of having that warmth and weight pressed against her.

“Ben?” she called out, shaking his shoulder.

His face scrunched, sniffing. Her stomach flipped over at the sight. It was so wonderfully strange to actually see his face, bringing a wave of _something_ she tried to keep hidden.

“Rey,” he murmured.

He shifted and she grunted when his elbow jammed into her stomach. A stomach that, once the sleepiness was chased away, felt very empty.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, avoiding eye-contact. He pushed away from her but he couldn't get very far in such a small space. She immediately missed his warmth.

“I wasn’t expecting that fight,” he said.

She barked an incredulous laugh. Neither of them was expecting a ghoul coming from the ashes, unleashing that kind of wild and old magic.

“We’re lucky we both came out alive,” she mumbled. “There’s a bit of scarring, but I couldn't help that.”

His hand went up to touch and he jerked in shock as he realized his mask didn't cover his face.

“Oh.”

She nodded.

“I don't know what that thing did to you, but it was hard to heal.”

His hand dropped away. His eyes glanced out towards the light. Rey watched him. There was nothing better she could do and she couldn't stop looking. In the light, she could appreciate the dark eyes and prominent profile.

The razor-thin scar that cut a line down his face only served the whole picture. And she really should stop looking at him. There was her pack and her staff and the triangle of daylight, but none of that were as interesting of the man by her side and the way his mouth pursed in thought.

“I knew who he was,” Ben said, staring blankly into the distance. His hands still worked mindlessly, buttoning up his coat again.

“Who?” Rey asked.

He blinked, now turning his attention to her.

“My grandfather. The one I came looking for. I saw him when I was a child, in my dreams. He knew me.” He shook his head. “It was all a trick. I can’t believe—my family was right.”

Rey watching, waiting as his thoughts rolled around in his head. It was beginning to make sense. There was something that made Ben similar to Anakin. It wasn’t just the style in the spells they used. It was blood, plain and simple. She could even see Padmé in him, that pure, bright magic that could only flow from the earth.

“He murdered my grandmother. Those were the stories. I couldn’t believe someone so strong and honorable would do something like that. But they were right. I just don’t understand why.”

“He was tricked,” Rey murmured.

“How do you know?”

The accusation in his voice made her wince. “I saw it in a dream. Snoke tricked him into killing her. Anakin was trying to save her and their children. Snoke needed Padmé dead to curse the forest.”

It seemed like Snoke went through a lot of trouble for that, but the forest gave him near unlimited power to feed off of, healing himself from the wounds and illness that plagued him.

“They had twins. Was one…?”

“My mother and my uncle. Both of them have the same talents as my grandfather.”

“And your grandmother was a tree spirit.”

His mouth twisted bitterly. She really should stop looking at his mouth.

“So, no wonder Snoke wanted her dead. She had the entire forest under her command, if she wanted to wield the power. All of the stories said that she had been peaceful, never warlike.”

Rey knew, at least, those stories were right. If Padmé had lived to meet Kylo, in her whole and living state, she would have doted on him.

“So, what are we gonna do now?” she asked.

There was too much hope in the words and she winced. He came back. He fought by her side, but that didn't mean anything if he stayed as her shadow. And now that the whole reason he helped her in the first place, a ticket out of the forest, was gone, he had no reason to stay.

His eyes cast downward, almost cowed.

“I want to come with you.”

It should’ve shocked her, but part of her knew that it was inevitable. They drew on each other. And he still operated under the idea that she could get them out of the forest. “Why now?”

“I know Snoke. He will kill you if you fight him alone and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if that happened.”

Rey nodded, biting her lip. “Okay.”

She wasn’t going to argue with him on that. She didn't know how to repay him, now. She supposed the curse would kill her before he could collect payment.

The thought of it brought relief and sorrow in equal measures.

Ben rolled his shoulders.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I feel like I’ve been trampled, but that isn’t out of the ordinary.” His eyes tracked around the hollow. “Where’s my bag?” Ben asked.

Rey had hoped he wouldn’t notice, but to no avail. “I had to leave it. I couldn't carry both our bags and you.”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. Where we’re going, we don’t need what’s in that bag.”

He climbed out of the hollow and offered his arm to Rey. She grabbed on and gingerly followed him out. She could only be thankful that the wood hadn’t crawled down far enough to make walking impossible.

“That doesn’t look comfortable,” Ben muttered.

Rey jabbed a finger at her unfeeling shoulder. “It isn’t. Trust me.”

“I can carry your things for you.”

Rey opened her mouth to refuse, but he already swung her bag over his shoulder. “Come on. You need to carry as little as possible.”

He turned towards the river and she caught his arm. He turned to her, a question on his face. She could see the tiny twitches that played across his features, the intricacies that she had been deprived of the entire time she had known him.

“Before we go,” Rey started.

Ben froze. She meant it to sound nonchalant, but failed miserably.

“What?”

She shifted in place, her ring’s absence like a physical weight on her chest. “It might change whether or not you want to continue on with me.”

He stared flatly at her, disbelieving that anything she would say would change his mind. “Doubtful.”

Rey’s stomach turned, both at the reminder that she was likely forever lost and that she may have relegated Ben to a similar fate.

“I won’t be able to hold up my end of the bargain,” Rey said.

Horror dawned on his face as he leaned towards her. “What did you do?”

She shrugged, wincing.

“My grandfather’s ring, the one I had around my neck, had a spell that would allow me to find my way home,” she explained. “I gave it to the river, in exchange for its healing power.”

Ben’s mouth flapped open and closed, a mix of anger and something soft and undefined flickering over his face. “You shouldn’t have done that. You should’ve left me to die.”

“I wasn’t going to do that. You know me better than that.”

He still didn't look happy at the idea, but he didn't argue.

“So, I won’t be able to lead you out of here,” Rey sighed, “I have nothing for you.”

Ben shrugged. “Okay. We’ll deal with that after Snoke is dead.”

“Why?”

Ben suddenly found his feet to be very interesting. “Because I—I already wasted your time. It’s the least I could do.”

He gestured towards the river and it was back to business. “We need to cross. That will lead us to him.”

Rey nodded. “Snoke was beyond the river the entire time? You _have_ been across the river?”

Bitterness rose again in her mouth but she tamped it down. At least, Ben had the decency to look guilty. “Yes.”

“Okay. Lead the way.”

This time, she figured she could trust him.

They passed the snuffed-out fire and the two halves of the mask. Ben didn't even pause to pick up the pieces.

From there, they trailed along the river’s edge, looking for a place to cross. Everywhere seemed to be deep or turbulent.

“It doesn’t look like were going to have much luck here.”

“No, look,” Ben said. “You can see the bottom of the water right over there.”

Fallen leaves were swept downstream, fast as lightning, through the large gap.

“The current will take our legs out from under us. Let’s keep looking.”

It took several minutes for them to find a shallower area.

“Are you ready?” Rey asked.

“Of course.”

He waded into the narrow gap and the water reached mid-thigh. He took Rey’s hand and pulled her along. She took care to step where he had stepped, focusing on the murky water and not on his grip.

Immediately, when they reached the other side, she knew that they were getting close. There were no wards to keep them away, but the magic was enough to drive just about anyone and anything else away.

It even had the sickly-sweet smell of spoilage.

They crossed the short distance between the river and the forest and the malaise faded to the background. It still lingered, like a fog, but it wasn’t overwhelming.

“Come on.”

The trees were different. Instead of tall red trees with broad trunks, these were thin with dark wood.

Everything felt heavier. Her arm felt very much like a tree's limb. She walked with a hunch, compensating for the weight. The shell that crept over her chest and back didn’t quite impede her breathing, but it was only a matter of time. This was going to make travelling more difficult, regardless.

She didn’t want to think about it. She had gone so far and she couldn’t allow herself to lose her nerve, even if the curse seemed to eat at her with a greater intensity. “How long is it going to take?”

“Less than two days, I think.”

“Really? That quickly?” She had expected over half a week's time, if not more.

“Yes. I cannot begin to apologize for wasting your time. We could’ve been done with this a long time ago.”

Rey shrugged. “I suppose it wasn’t that bad, traveling with you. But almost getting poisoned several times and almost getting eaten by a beast and almost getting killed by your grandfather...”

“Right, got it.”

She grinned at the ground before realizing that she could actually see his face. She looked up to see his mouth twitched up into a smile before it schooled back to a focused expression.

“Why did you cover your face?”

That was clearly the wrong question to ask. His expression shuttered and he shrunk into himself a little.

“You don't have to tell me if you don't want to,” Rey murmured.

The answer came, faint and halting, unlike a man of his stature. “It felt safe. I don’t know.”

Even as he said it, she knew that it wasn’t the truth. There had to be a reason other than fear.

“How long is it going to take before you’re completely honest with me?”

The question came out with no malice but he flinched as if she had punched him.

“It’s not that I—Snoke has more power than you can imagine and no compunction about getting more of it.”

Rey nodded, following along. “And hiding yourself was a way to take away that power.”

If he hadn’t covered his face, she wondered how quickly Snoke would’ve driven him mad. She had seen the extent with Ben’s hallucination and her seeing Obi-Wan hanging from the trees,

“It would’ve been better if you had come here hiding your face, so Snoke couldn't see your fears.”

“Like seeing myself drowned in that pond?”

“Exactly.”

The sight of it still haunted her, though now the reality of her death was not going to be drowning in a pool but being consumed by a tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All feedback is appreciated!  
Cheers!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and chapter 14 were posted at 11/1  
And this is where we earn our rating :3  
Enjoy!

The forest was decidedly colder than where they had wandered through before. It didn't bring hail or snow. It was static, unmoving.

Her joints didn't like the cold to begin with, but she could also feel the little leaves and branches on her arm struggle to keep away the frost.

When the temperature suddenly got warmer, they stopped and exchanged a glance.

Anakin was too fresh in their mind. He had brought a heat that was unnatural for a green forest and he had disappeared after Rey had driven him away.

“Would he have followed us this far?” Rey asked.

“I don’t know.”

They continued forward, on alert. The air felt pleasant, not blistering.

Maybe it wasn’t Anakin. It wouldn’t surprise her if he was stuck on one side of the river. Snoke would probably want Anakin as far away from him as possible. If Anakin would show such wrath towards her and Ben, he would be ruthless towards Snoke.

Instead of a wasteland, the forest opened up into green grass and flowers. The clearing stretched wide, larger than anything they had come across before.

“This isn’t real, right?” Rey breathed.

For a moment, Ben was at a loss for words. “It looks like it’s real.”

Ben leaned down and plucked a tiny purple flower from the ground and held it out to her. She accepted it and twirled it between her fingers.

Blanched grass marred the edges of the meadow. The gnarled tree, a weeping willow, in the center was pathetically short in comparison to the trees in the rest of the forest.

“It’s pretty,” Rey marveled.

It was the biggest open space she had seen the entire time she was in the forest. She stepped forward and touched her hand to the trunk.

“The tree has deep roots, its own magic. It must be protecting the area around it.”

This magic was very pure, earth magic. It was self-serving, to keep itself safe from what was around it.

“We should enjoy it, then. At this rate, the meadow will be dead tomorrow.”

That was a decidedly negative way to look at it, but Rey didn't comment. He was right. Something so beautiful couldn’t last for long. It was a bubble of protection that would soon burst and rot would consume that little meadow.

She sighed and unpinned her cloak, letting it fall to the ground.

“Stars among stars,” she grunted, rolling her flesh shoulder.

Traveling with the curse was becoming more and more troublesome by the hour. She was running out of time. She could feel more wood creeping over her body, scale by scale, inch by inch.

“It really is warm,” Ben said. He removed his cloak and lay it on the ground before sitting on it. Rey sat down as well, soaking up the sun.

“Having all these layers while the wood grows makes everything so uncomfortable.”

“Chafing?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, but I can’t remove any of my clothes by myself. Only my cloak.”

It was only another testament to how useless the curse made her. She couldn't even undress herself.

“I can help you if you want.”

Rey glanced at his suddenly flushed expression. “Or not,” he conceded.

“You helped me before,” she muttered. “Go ahead.”

He gently reached for the hem of her shirt as she grabbed with her flesh hand. He took her wooden arm and held it over her head. He whipped off her shirt and Ben pulled away.

“Thank you.”

It allowed the faint breeze to cool her skin, but also revealed the extent of the curse’s advance. Wood covered her shoulder and crept over her collarbone down the right side of her body.

She rested her arm in her lap, suddenly wishing that she just had kept it all hidden under her cloak.

“I’m worried that I’m not going to make it,” she muttered. It was her idea and her duty to her people, but she was a burden to herself. She barely got away from Snoke alive and that was with two functional arms.

“Don’t say that. Please.”

It was her turn to be brutally honest about what their reality was. The meadow was going to be destroyed and her body was going to be destroyed.

There was little they could do, for either things.

He watched her like she was going to disappear. She watched him right back, trying to find what he saw in her.

“Are you okay?” Rey asked.

He snapped from the strange expression that painted his face.

“Can I see?” he asked, gesturing to her arm.

“You haven’t done so already when I was sleeping?”

He blanched. “No!” he exclaimed. “I respected your privacy.”

She grabbed her right arm with her left and moved it towards him.

“You can touch if you want.”

Ben’s brow rose in shock before he schooled his expression.

“Thank you.”

He skimmed his fingers over the spindly branches and delicate leaves and flowers. She felt it in a detached way, more akin to him touching her hair than her skin. The juxtaposition between the shiny wood and his pale hand did _things_ to her chest.

He touched them with a gentle reverence, not with revulsion. For a brief moment, she was grateful that she had been cursed, that this moment had been brought to her. Now, he looked at her face, watching her with the same sort of affection. “Beautiful.”

The sudden blush that took over her cheeks made her lightheaded. This was painfully intimate.

“Can I—?”

“What?”

He leaned in close, but stopped.

She looked at him, his dark eyes and the way his mouth was just slightly open. “Oh.”

Rey must have hesitated for a bit too long because he started to move away.

“Sorry, I'm...sorry.”

She didn’t let him get very far. She reached out with her flesh arm and grabbed him by the collar of that stupid black coat. He froze, but couldn’t let her fear stop her. She was turning into a tree. Soon they were going to fight Snoke, a fight neither of them were sure they could win.

Rey pulled him in as she rose from where sat. Her eyes shut as their lips met in a tight press, sloppy and frantic. Ben relaxed just slightly, one hand landing on her hip and the other cupping the back of her neck.

They broke apart for air and Rey opened her eyes to look for approval, _something_ in Ben. He looked dumbfounded. Red tinted his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

“You have no idea how long I wanted to do that,” Ben said.

She could imagine quite a bit of time. She felt the same. It had felt so natural and right that she wondered why she denied herself this indulgence the entire time they had known each other. Even their magic hummed in approval; it mingled in the air like two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. His hands went to her hips as he leaned over her.

Ben leaned in for another kiss, something chaste that quickly turned filthy when their tongues twined together. The sun's rays had nothing on how warm Rey felt. She could feel the heat in her chest and flush over her face.

“Ben,” she breathed.

“Rey.”

Now, his hands left her and she mourned the loss as he frantically tugged at the buttons of his coat. He pressed his forehead to hers as he pulled his arms free of the offending garment, casting it to the side. The undershirt was still ripped from Anakin's dagger and stained copper from dried blood.

“Too hot,” he whispered.

He braced his arms on either side of her, pressing his body against her. He kissed her once, hard, on the mouth, before he traveled downwards. He kissed her jaw, down the column of her neck, to where flesh met wood. He brushed his lips over her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

She clung onto his shoulder, cursing her useless hand. She would touch him all over, if she could.

He moved back to kiss her again and she sighed, shifting a little underneath him. His excitement pressed against her and he rocked his hips.

Rey moaned, kissing his throat, sucking in a mark.

He shivered, tucking his head into the crook of her neck. His breath puffed against her neck and then she was the one shivering.

“Ben?”

He was quiet for a moment, mouthing softly at her skin. “I’m at a loss as to what to do,” he murmured.

“Oh,” she whispered. She had assumed Ben was just as experienced as she, if not rusty from 10 years of seclusion.

“Have you?”

“Yes.”

His breath shuddered. “Let me see.”

The memories surfaced, almost unbidden. She almost snapped at him about invading her privacy when she realized that it was all about her.

Her old lovers, short trysts during her travels with Obi-Wan, were shadows, blurs. Their hands, mouths, bodies, on her were all disconnected. Her sighs and moans when she was pleasured, the arch of her back as she came, were vivid and clear.

It was a whirlwind that faded into the background after a moment.

“Okay,” Ben mumbled.

He kissed her and his hands skimmed underneath her thin undershirt. His hands were warm and smooth against her stomach. Her breath hitched as she nodded, giving him permission to undress her. He was slow about it; he let his fingers skim over her sides as he removed the shirt, maneuvering around her wooden limb. Her bra went next, cast to the side with the rest of her clothes.

There, his hands hesitated, eyes roaming over her torso with undisguised hunger. She blushed, feeling both safe and oddly exposed.

“I’m feeling a bit overdressed to this party, you know.”

His undershirt disappeared with an endearing eagerness and now it was Rey’s turn to look him over. He had a wide chest, both muscle and signs of hunger playing over his form. She reached out and skimmed her hand over his sternum and up to his shoulder. The scar dug down into his shoulder and down his collarbone, a little darker than the rest of his skin. On the other shoulder, skin grey as ash covered the joint, creeping down to his elbow.

She went to touch that too before Ben caught her hand in his.

“But I want—.”

He cut her off with a kiss before easing her to her back. She grunted as the wood that spread over her back pressed into the ground. The blanket offered little cushion, but the grass was soft.

He trailed kisses over her collarbone and over her breasts. He took one nipple in her mouth, sucking. She shivered, moaning into the air. Well, he definitely found that particular thing she liked.

From there, he travelled lower, stroking his fingers over where the wood marred her side.

She was of little help as Ben pulled off her pants, only he stopped when her boots stopped the advance. He lost his patience then, all but yanking off her boots and pants, drawing a laugh.

That carefree laugh turned to a moan as Ben leaned down between her legs.

He prepped her with an aching gentleness, a distant echo of her past lovers and something that was uniquely his own.

She fell off the precipice with a high-pitched cry, shameless into the warm air.

“Ben, please,” she gasped as he teased her through her orgasm until she was squirming.

Ben pulled away, wiping his mouth on the back of his arms. His eyes were dark with arousal.

Rey regarded him with a wry smile before pressing her shin between his legs. Ben pressed against her leg with a grunt.

“While I don’t mind getting off like this, I’m thinking of other things we can do.”

He shed his pants and situated himself between her legs. His erection bobbed between them, hard and she shivered at the thought of it inside her.

The spread of her legs around his thick torso brought a pleasant stretch until it wasn't so pleasant. The wood bit into the soft flesh of her stomach and she hissed.

Ben pulled away and let her feet thump on the ground, horror painted on his face.

“Am I doing something wrong?” he whispered.

She shook her head, arousal dimmed down to a barely-there flame. She reached up to cup his face, thumb swiping over the plush bow of his lip. “No, you’re perfect. It’s just,” she gestured at her arm and the wood that encased her skin.

Ben looked her over, his mind filing through ideas.

“Here, let me.”

He turned her on her left side, gentle as possible. He straddled her left leg, crowding in close and touched his forehead to her arm.

“You good?” Rey asked.

He nodded as he positioned himself at her entrance. His free hand wrapped around her thigh, keeping her balanced.

They groaned in unison as he slid into her, pressing as deep as he could.

He fucked her slowly, his hands roaming over her body. His eyes, when they weren’t flickering closed in pleasure, were pinned to her face and looking for any discomfort.

She couldn’t think about the wood that covered her body. She gasped, shivering.

His fingers rubbed at her clit, his other hand digging bruises into her thigh, and suddenly she was close again, near-painfully tight and wanting, needing that release as Ben’s thrusts became shorter and more frantic.

“Ben, dammit.”

His hand found her nipple again, tweaking the bud between his fingers as he ground his hips into her. Rey clutched at his arm, finding an anchor as she tightened around him, coming with a breathless cry.

He moaned in answer, thrusting in once, twice, until he emptied inside of her. For a long moment, they stayed connected, gasping into a shared kiss.

He flopped down next to her, catching his breath.

She sat up and got a closer look of the scarring on his back, only to see that what she had seen in the river had disappeared. Pockmark scars littered the plane of his back but the blackened skin had retreated, leaving only his shoulder and upper arm affected.

“Healing you healed me a little bit,” Ben said softly, sensing her attention.

Rey leaned down and touched her lips to unmarked skin. The tides had turned for him. She could be grateful for that.

His muscles twitched at the touch before he relaxed again.

They dozed. Rey couldn't sleep very much, with the hunger and the stiffness in her arm making true relaxation impossible.

It wasn’t until the dawn sun washed the little meadow with light before they rose for the day.

“Look,” Rey said.

The grass was still green and the flowers had opened up to take in the sunlight.

“Something is changing,” Rey murmured.

The milieu of darkness that settled over everything didn't abate, but there was something underneath it that felt like hope.

“I can feel it too.”

It was cold again, as soon as they left the meadow. The difference was so stark.

Everything felt stiff and weighted, the magic more like a wave of sludge than a fog.

“Keep your eyes open. We are getting close.”

He was telling the truth. She could see it in the set of his jaw, the way his eyes shifted at the shadows. He was angry. He was also afraid.

She was afraid as well. They both knew what Snoke was like and what he could do to them.

Rey coughed as quietly as she could. It was a dry, rasping thing that shook her body. She knew of people who sought out her grandfather for remedies for their breathing problems. She didn’t know that it felt like until that moment.

“This is a nightmare,” she murmured.

She should have killed Snoke while she had the chance, the first time they met. It would’ve saved her the trouble. She wouldn’t have met Ben, but the dizzying feeling of fear and visceral decay chased away that warm, affectionate memories.

“How much longer?”

Ben walked forward, steadfast. “Soon.”

Now, she could trust that he was telling the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Art done by the amazing fahrennheit on tumblr!!](https://fahrennheit.tumblr.com/)
> 
> All feedback is appreciated!
> 
> Cheers!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and Chapter 17 were posted 11/8.  
See the end of this chapter for some sweet af art!  
Enjoy!

“Rey.”

If her face had shown her distress before her body felt it, she didn't know. All rational thought chased away. She bowed over, mouth hanging open. She couldn't breathe. Fear rushed through her ears as suddenly her lungs couldn't take in a full breath.

“Are you okay?” Ben shouted. He grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him.

She pulled away from him, trying to keep herself upright.

“I’m fine.” She wasn’t fine. She couldn't even make her voice sound like she was fine.

“Can you walk?”

She shook her head as the adrenaline drained away and her body felt the full-force of what was happening to it. “It hurts.”

Her knees locked, keeping her upright while all she wanted to do was collapse and turn into unfeeling dirt.

“Where does it hurt?”

She waved her hand over her side, doubling over. She didn't want to touch it, but she knew it wasn’t a scale anymore, a skin-deep imperfection.

It was becoming exactly what it was supposed to be, digging into muscle, blood, and bone, turning warmth into cold wood.

“Oh, God,” she wheezed.

She gagged and gasped, trying to take in air that suddenly was at a premium. There was no removing this. It was part of her and soon it would be all of her.

As they got closer, she only got closer to the end as the curse responded to the dark magic that swirled around them.

“Rey, we’re so close. You can fight it.”

“I can’t,” she gasped.

“Yes, you can. Come on.”

She clawed at her chest. The wood crept over her abdomen, a fully-foreign body closing over her flesh.

Ben reached out and pressed his hand to the center of her chest. His hand was so big and she felt small and protected.

“I’m right here,” he said, “Listen to me, I’m right here.”

He tucked his face against her hair and she felt his lips move against her scalp. Though the magic didn't fully register, she felt the effects. She took in a gulp of air and the relief of it swooped through her.

“Let me see,” Ben whispered.

She didn't need to lift up her shirt to know that it was bad. Every movement she made was very clear that it was progressing at a rapid pace.

He reached out and she allowed him to grip the hem of her shirt and lift it up.

His breath caught loudly. Rey didn't look down to see what he saw, instead only focused on his face.

Again, anger and fear played across his face, only this time it was soft, sad. He seemed to crumple at little.

“Come on. We don’t have much time.”

* * *

* * *

She was sure she was going to collapse before the icy cold sensation of power hovered over them.

“We’re here.”

Rey nodded, steeling herself. She could walk, she could breathe. Everything was just a bit more difficult, but she could still fight.

Snoke didn't hide from them. Instead, he perched atop a tree stump that had been carved out to make a throne.

“I have been waiting for you.”

Ben stepped forward while Rey stayed still, watching him.

“I’m glad, Kylo Ren, that you have returned. I hope you enjoyed your little excursion.”

Rey felt her stomach drop in disbelief and dread. Ben had betrayed her once, and reconciled with her. Surely, he wouldn’t do it again.

“Ben?”

He glanced back and a strange light glinted in his eyes.

“His heart is mine, little girl,” Snoke crowed.

She clenched her jaw.

“He isn’t yours. He is his own man.”

“Folly, child. Anakin Skywalker had incredible power as a sorcerer, but he was muddied by his love for that tree woman. His grandson lacks such reservation.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Am I?” Snoke wondered with a nasty grin. “Kylo Ren, bring her to me.”

Kylo—he tricked her again into believing he had been anything different—prodded her forward with his staff.

“Ben, don’t do this.”

He wouldn’t even look at her.

Her attention left Kylo. At least for Kylo, he was less likely to attack her. Despite what Snoke said, surely there was something that would stay his hand for a moment. If she could weaken Snoke, if not kill him, it could break his hold on Kylo and return him to her.

She stamped her staff against the ground, but it fizzled softly. Her mouth flapped in shock as, for all the mental preparation, her magic wouldn’t respond.

Snoke flicked his hand and her staff went flying.

“Simple girl.”

Now, fear clutched at her throat.

“For all the power the forest has, it cannot even protect one of its unwilling acolytes.”

Snoke closed in on her with an unnatural speed. His fingers dug into her side and she yelled in pain.

“Such a pity. Someone of your strength would have been a great asset. But, you are just as good to me dead as you are alive.”

He threw her across the clearing and she hit the ground with a thud. Her wooden arm twisted underneath her body, bruising what little flesh was left.

She hissed out a breath. Blood bubbled from her split lip.

Distantly, she noticed Ben shifting in place.

Snoke swiped an ice-cold finger over her chin to collect a few drops of her blood, rubbing it between his fingers.

“Strange, your blood is familiar.”

She clenched a fist and tried to push away from Snoke and maybe strike him in the process.

“Kylo Ren killed my servants when he came into the forest years ago, only to become my own. I see _all_ in this forest.”

Snoke stepped to the side and flicked his hand again. Rey felt her body lift and her stomach flipped as she went flying.

Her head thumped hard against the throne and her eyeballs rattled in their sockets. Everything was so heavy.

“You will not turn into a tree. No, that is a waste. Your blood will water this forest for generations.”

Rey watched Snoke stalk in front of her.

He stopped as a line of jagged stone erupted in front of him, sharp and clear like crystal.

“Enough.”

She couldn’t help but sag a little in relief, though the fear and the crushing exhaustion and pain made everything muted.

Ben moved by her side, as if the spell had broken. “That’s enough.”

Snoke’s mouth curled as Ben reached behind him. Rey stiffly reached up and took his hand, pulling herself to her feet.

“I see that Skywalker blood is not free of such weakness. No matter. Death often has a way of fading away in the mind after a while.”

She couldn’t get to her staff, but she didn’t need it.

Snoke spread out his palm and closed it into a fist. The stone barrier exploded into sand.

“I taught you that trick. Don’t think you can use it against me.”

Ben squeezed her hand.

“Rey, go.”

She almost laughed. Go? Where could she go? And how could she get there with any kind of speed, now that her body was quickly turning stiff and immobile.

“Not gonna happen. This is my fight too.”

Snoke sneered at them.

“A foolish boy, following a silly girl. I should have killed you both while I had the chance.”

Sparks flew in the air as Rey summoned her strength. Magic, familiar and warm like an old friend, rose to meet her.

Ice crystals suspended in the air, shimmering around Snoke to match his shiny gold robes. The wound in his side had mended, but Rey couldn’t help but feel success in seeing the patchwork on his side.

Ben's hand left hers and the world narrowed down to that one tiny clearing.

Snoke backed away, eyeing them, looking for weaknesses. His first blow separated them further, Ben and Rey sidestepping a blast that could have blown their limbs off.

Ben was all rage, stone and fire. Rey couldn’t even think to summon fire. Her body rejected even the sight of the white fire that Ben sent into the air.

Rey felt strength welled up inside her, a survival instinct, fighting for life. She stamped her foot against the ground.

The ground cracked underneath her feet, the spidery fissure etching along the ground to Snoke's feet. A hole appeared under his foot and he sunk into the ground. He choked a yell as his ankle rolled.

Neither Ben nor Rey could appreciate the small victory before Snoke sent them both flying back.

Rey, once again, found herself rolling to the foot of that throne.

She reeled back and leaned against the wood. A warm feeling crawled up her spine, filling her with strength. She almost swooned with it, though her bones felt leaden and stiff.

Snoke wasn’t the only one with power here.

“I—,” she started, pressing her flesh hand to her temple.

The world flickered in and out of focus.

Suddenly, she was a child again. Obi-Wan held her hand in a tight grip and her mother and father stood painfully far away.

“She is your child!” Obi-Wan hissed, shaking with barely-restrained emotion.

“Don’t worry, Pops. We’ll be back,” her father said dismissively. Her mother swayed a little by his side.

“Mama, Papa? Where are you going?” Rey asked. “Can I come with you?”

“No,” her mother’s mouth moved but instead of the muddied-familiar voice of a childhood memory, it was clear. “You are going somewhere we can’t follow.”

Rey snapped back to reality when a beam of light connected with Ben, taking his feet out from under him.

Ben scrambled to his feet and bowed over, groaning in pain. He coughed and blood sprayed from his mouth.

“I won’t kill you so quickly, Ben Solo. I will make you suffer. I will cut you into a thousand pieces and scatter you across the world.”

Ben straightened, the magic welling up inside him as he staggered to his feet. He spat at the ground in defiance of his old master.

Rey pushed herself forward, running as fast as she could. Her body protested every moment of it, warring with herself.

“Ben!”

His eyes snapped to hers and, without hesitation, tossed his staff.

She caught it, following through with the heavier weight. Everything felt slow, like she was moving through syrup.

She felt the power humming through her, the entire forest coming up to wreak its vengeance on the man who took their queen.

She yelled in effort, pouring every ounce of effort and what magic remained inside her, to swing the staff around.

The jagged stone pierced Snoke's chest with a horrible crunching sound. She drove it through his chest, until it poked out his back, skewered through the heart.

“It matters little,” he croaked.

Rey gritted her teeth, startling when Ben was at her shoulder, as he always was. He held onto the staff, just below where she held it, forcing the staff further into his chest.

A crack like thunder sounded and a cool breeze followed the echo.

Snoke stared at them, shock on his face. His snake-like eyes faded into nothing, leaving burnt-out sockets.

He dropped to the ground, the staff still sticking out of him.

Rey sagged in relief. Ben stumbled forward, as if a weight lifted off of his shoulders. Magic whirled around them in a rush, finding a balance after what was years and years of discord.

She staggered where she stood, the wood biting into her stomach and sides. She had won, but why did it hurt?

Rey made a choked noise as suddenly the next inhale was a fraction of the previous. Black spots danced in her vision and her staff fell from limp fingers.

Words drifted through the wind, sounding through the panicked ringing in her ears. “_You did well, child. Now it’s time._”

Her quest was over. That meant only one thing.

“Ben,” she gasped.

He wheeled around; eyes wide in horror. “Rey?”

Within moments, her wood encased her legs and hips. Roots dug into the now-loamy earth, her final resting place.

“We were too late,” she rasped.

They had won in the same breath she had lost.

Ben reached out to touch her face, what little skin was left. “This is my fault,” he choked out. “I wasted so much time.”

She shook her head as the bark spread across her shoulders and down her other arm, freezing it where she reached towards him. “No, I want you to be happy.”

She gasped for air as the bark closed around her chest, through her chest, a full vise around her. Snoke was dead and the evil that permeated the forest was abating. She could sense the warmth and life around her as the very same drained from her body.

Her arms lengthened and twisted into shiny branches. She leaned into his touch, that last contact. She watched his face, every little detail. On her tongue was the one thing she wanted to say aloud before the curse stopped her mouth forever.

“I love you.”

Ben’s mouth flapped in disbelief. “Rey? Don’t…”

He tucked his face into the shrinking patch of skin on her neck.

Darkness tinged her vision. She could feel her heartbeat slow, her breath stop.

The last thing she saw was the streaks of tears down Ben's face before the wood closed over her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Thank you so much to bloomsbury for this commission! Check out her tumblr and commission her! She's awesome!](https://bloomsbury.tumblr.com/)
> 
> All feedback is appreciated!  
Cheers!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and Chapter 17 were posted 11/8.  
Enjoy!

This wasn’t death.

She had form. She had some sort of consciousness, though there was no light and no sound. She had her mind and the strange sensation of being surrounded in a cage that both crushed her and left her with too much room.

Space didn't matter, she supposed, when you’re a tree.

This was it. She wouldn’t even be allowed to die.

She didn't know how long she could live as a tree. Would she just be trapped in this darkness forever?

There was no knowledge, no language. Padmé had spoken of sisters but she felt nothing. She wasn’t like the tree spirits, bound to her form and to the trees around her.

She was separate, alone. She had gone into the forest alone and she would be there alone.

At least, Ben could be free. The forest could lead him out; it was the least it could do after a decade of hardship.

She just…she wished she could’ve gone with him.

Even pain would be better than feeling nothing at all.

Maybe it was moments, maybe it was years. She didn’t know, but she felt it.

A minute, an hour, a century passed, before she felt _something_. Heat, but not pain. She could be burning. She had already known that fire was her enemy. There wasn’t anything she could do about that, but she could welcome that release.

Warm light shone in her eyes.

_Eyes?_

Now, the feeling of air against her skin, no breath, no movement. Panic. The primal fear of being trapped, without air.

Limbs heavy and unresponsive. Then, finally, movement.

A shaking gasp for air, lungs taking in all the air they could.

Sight, knowledge, returned to find…

“Ben?”

His face was red and tears poured from his face.

“Rey?” he gasped, voice thick with emotion.

He grabbed her face, eyes roaming over her features.

“Look at me. Look at me,” he begged and Rey could only obey, his strong grip keeping her still.

“Ben?”

His chest hitched as if he had been jabbed in the ribs.

She didn't understand until a chill passed over them. Murky film crept from the edges of his eyes, like ice closing over a pond.

“_Ben?_”

He shut his eyes with a wince before opening them again. The cloudiness didn't abate.

“What is this?” she demanded. She already moved towards her staff, a spell crackling on her fingers to cure him of this unknown affliction.

His eyes were on her face, but they weren’t focused. They stared at her and through her. His eyes moved in his head, but the pupils didn't change.

“What have you done?”

Ben sighed before looking resolute. “I made a choice.”

“You’re—you’re _blind_, Ben.”

“And you aren’t a tree. It wasn’t quite a life for a life. That’s why I didn’t die in your place.”

Rey swallowed around sudden emotion.

His fingers combed through her hair, catching at the tangles and making her wince. “You were a beautiful tree, but I’m glad the last thing I saw was your face.”

Rey crumpled a little in his arms, exhaustion and relief and sorrow all weighing down on her.

“Oh, Ben.”

She took his face in her hands. She kissed over his eyelids and his cheeks and the plush bow of his mouth.

He hummed in affection, pressing back when his lips touched hers.

“We can go home now,” Rey murmured.

* * *

* * *

The wind blew at their backs, leading them through the forest.

After weeks of wandering, the path was short.

The redwoods remained, but everything was brighter. She hadn’t realized that the curse had suppressed so much life in the forest. The reds and greens were brighter and the birdsong was louder.

Ben followed her quietly, one hand on her elbow and the other holding his staff.

When they clearly weren’t walking as fast as the forest wanted, the wind picked up to push at them.

“It’s as if the forest is kicking us out,” Ben murmured.

The push of magic abruptly stopped just before dawn and they knew they had reached the forest’s edge.

Ben paused. His milky eyes stared at the tree line. Rey took his hand and squeezed. Her joints throbbed in answer, but she ignored it.

“Ben?”

His throat bobbed as he hesitated. “It’s just been a long time.”

“Come on,” Rey murmured, pulling him forward. “You’re ready. I’ll be right here.”

He took a deep breath and nodded.

“Okay.”

The tree line ended abruptly, but the chill remained.

Instead of crops and the Ticos’ homestead, they were met by a long field of green-brown grass that rippled in the wind.

“This isn’t anywhere close to home,” Rey muttered, heart pounding her chest.

It didn't take long before they saw trees again. Only, this time, they didn't grow straight and tall. These were bent and curved away from the wind.

Ben squeezed her hand in comfort and they walked forward.

The distant roar-hush sound of _something_ carried over the wind. It was something that carried a kind of quiet, old magic. Like the forest, she couldn't tell if it was truly good or bad.

It was all she could sense and all she could do was move forward. There was nothing Rey could see that told her that it was her town. The air and the soil looked different.

The flat land raised to a hill at a sharp incline. Kylo practically pulled her up the last part of the climb. Her joints were still stiff and barely allowed for walking, much less climbing.

Rey caught her breath when they reached the top.

“That’s...” she breathed.

Just beyond, the land ended and water began.

“The ocean,” Ben finished.

Salt and chill wrinkled her nose, but the tears that filled her eyes had nothing to do with the ocean air. This was far from home. Her town was effectively landlocked. Any ocean would be miles and miles from there.

“How will I know if my town is okay?” she wondered.

Ben’s hand tightened on hers. “What does your heart tell you?”

She closed her eyes and breathed quietly. Her staff heated under her hand and magic thrummed through her.

It took time, an echo of an echo crossing a far distance, before the image appeared in her mind. They made it. It got close, but the forest receded, like the tide.

They celebrated in the streets, glad that the town was saved. Rose cheered the loudest, tears running down her face. The people offered up food and gifts to her home, leaving them for Obi-Wan, tributes to their savior.

She could even feel her grandfather from there.

In her mind’s eyes, he turned towards her, a small, proud smile on his face.

The vision receded and she bent over, relief and sorrow punching her in the gut. She missed them like she missed breathing.

It was a long way away. She didn't know where to go, but something told her that it wasn’t that bad. She would return again, one day.

Instead, she looked out towards the ocean and leaned against Ben.

Boats floated on the blue, from giant fishing vessels to tiny rafts.

“There’s a town over there,” Rey murmured.

The cluster of buildings sat just off the shore, wooden planks sticking out into the water. It was small, but full of light.

Ben glanced in its direction, staring just a little to the left of it, before turning back to her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Okay. Now, you lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s all folks!  
Thank you so much to all who followed this story and kudos and commented and such! I really appreciate it!
> 
> All feedback is appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> So my upload schedule is gonna be 2 chapters every Monday and Friday until all is posted!
> 
> All feedback is appreciated! Comments feed the author!


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